Unexpected Ties
by SonicBeth
Summary: Being the eldest child and only daughter of Draco Malfoy has never made life easy for me, but after the disastrous events of an unplanned night with none other than James Potter, things are about to get a lot worse.
1. Chapter 1: Filled With Dread

Up till now, everything in my life had gone well; my parents loved me, I was a great Quidditch player, I had two amazing best friends (Becca Cooper and Joanna Saunders) and I had an outstanding set of O.W.L. results. But then, in true Malfoy fashion, I had to go and cock everything up.

'Shit.' I thought as I stared at the big red plus sign staring into my eyes. The test was positive. I was pregnant and very surprised. I never thought that something like this could happen to me as I'd always assumed that I'd have children after marrying a man who I loved and wanted to be with for the rest of my life, so this was a major disappointment. I was scared stiff, I couldn't even move. It's weird how a sign you've been using for all your life can bring so much shock to you, but then again I guess that those plus signs were all used in different circumstances.

What was I going to do? I was about to start my seventh year at Hogwarts and was pregnant. PREGNANT FOR FUCK'S SAKE! Straight away I was filled with dread at the thought of telling my family. And is if things couldn't get any worse, my baby's father was the son of Harry Potter, long-time enemy of my father. It was bad enough when Mum and Dad found my younger brother Scorpius and Rose Weasley kissing in his room after secretly flooing Rose over to our's. I could just imagine the look Dad's face: a mix between angry, horrified, scared and disappointed. Mum could probably handle it better as she hadn't had a long rivalry with Harry Potter like my father had.

And then I'd have to tell Scorpius. He'd be so disappointed, not that I slept with a Potter, (he's friends with Albus Potter) but that I was pregnant at seventeen. There was also the worry that he'd tell Albus, who'd most likely tell James, which was a disaster waiting to happen.

And then my thoughts drifted to James Potter. He was tall, dark and handsome with gorgeous hazel eyes and untameable black hair. I loved it when he'd ruffle his hair and it always made me blush. I'd had a crush on him since first year, but I knew it wasn't mutual. Well, not really, not until that night. I always thought that the reason he never talked to me was because he hated my family, but maybe he was just shy as he fancied me? And now I'd have to drop the bombshell that he's going to be a father in approximately seven months. I wonder how he'd take it, would he be happy that he was going to have a child, or just as scared as I was? I was definitely not looking forward to this, not one bit. Maybe I could just avoid telling him altogether, you see it all the time on muggle television programmes (I watch them at Becca's house as her parents love all things 'muggle'. My Dad is not aware of this thankfully). Fictional women find out they're pregnant and don't tell the father for various reasons. However, these situations never seemed to work out as the father always seems to find out about his secret child.

I guess there really was no other option but to tell James. It was his right to know about his child, especially as it was to be the first grandchild of the mighty Harry Potter. However, I still had seven months until I was due to have the baby, so I decided to put off telling anyone for a while and I myself still hadn't gotten my head around it all.


	2. Chapter 2: A Drunken Kiss

The next day, I made my way downstairs for breakfast. I was incredibly hungry as I hadn't eaten in 24 hours from the stress of my err… situation. As I entered the kitchen I caught sight of an amazingly enticing Full English Breakfast: a fried egg, tomatoes, baked beans, bacon, buttered toast, mushrooms and a nice mug of hot tea.

"Mmm! Thanks Mum!" I say appreciatively.

"It's okay darling. Oh, by the way, have you seen Scorpius this morning?" asked Mum.

"Er yeah, I don't think he's hungry as he's still in bed," I lied. It was very obvious to me that he'd snuck out to see Rose Weasley, but thankfully my parents were too naïve to notice. Mum passed me my plate, it looked absolutely delicious, especially as I felt like I could quite literally eat a horse. Before I delved in, I took one last sniff, which I soon realised was a big mistake.

"Oh no." I exclaimed.

"What is it Vi? Oh my! Are you alright?"

"Could you excuse me for a sec-," I sputter, before being violently interrupted by a wave of vomit. Apparently the baby didn't like English breakfast then.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Mum!" I said, before continuing to retch. Then, at that very moment, my dad walked in looking extremely confused.

"What's going on? Are you okay Viola?" he asked.

"Just *cough* a stomach bug *cough* been going around the neighbours." I struggled. My Dad took me up to my bedroom, accompanied by a large red bucket. Later that day I was left alone as my parents (and a very cheerful Scorpius might I add) went off to Diagon Alley as school was due to start in two days. They tried to convince me to come, but I rejected their offer and said I still felt ill, when really I just didn't want to risk the chance of bumping into 'you-know who'. No, not that 'you-know-who', I meant a certain James Potter. Even though I knew I'd have to face him in a couple of days anyway, I'd really rather face him alone instead of in front of his whole family as they'd probably immediately be able to tell that something had gone on between us just from the awkward glances. I knew that I couldn't avoid him forever and I'd have to tell him about the baby at some point, but to be honest I didn't really think that Diagon Alley was the right place to do so. The whole situation would just be too awkward. How did I even get into this situation in the first place, I hear you ask?

TWO MONTHS PREVIOUSLY

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Lily, happy birthday to you!" Sang the crowd enthusiastically .

"Oh, hey Viola! I hadn't any idea you were coming, I didn't think your dad would let you!" said James Potter, his beautiful brown eyes glistening, reflecting the magical gold fairy lights hanging around the room.

"He didn't, I lied to him about my whereabouts."

"Ooh rebel! So anyway, where does he think you are at the moment?"

"At Becca Cooper's for a sleepover."

"Hmm, good one. So how come you wanted to come? I thought you lot hated us." He asked quizzically.

"Lily invited me. We've been hanging around recently as she wanted me to help her with potions because one of her friends had told her about how I was the only person in our year to get an 'O' for the subject at O.W.L. level."

"Oh right, yeah Lil's never been that great at potions. Dad says he get it from him. Do you want to see what happened when she accidentally spilt corrosive potion all over my desk?" he asked, with a mischievous glint in his eye."

"Er ok." I mumble nervously. He led me into his bedroom, away from the heavy pulsating music downstairs, and pointed at his desk. It had a gigantic hole burnt into it, not that James seemed all too bothered. He'd probably never even used the desk before. Then, amidst our laughter, our eyes locked as if we were in a trance, his brown eyes gazing into my grey. Suddenly, our lips joined together in a passionate , but rather drunk kiss, and well, the rest is all history.


	3. Chapter 3: Returning to Hogwarts

It was now September the first and the day I was to return to Hogwarts to begin my seventh year. It was also the day that I'd have to face James for the first time since we slept together. My oh my, it was going to be awkward.

Mum, Dad, Scorpius and I left the house at 10:45 via side-along apparition and arrived just outside King's Cross Station. I knew the Potters were going to be arriving at the last minute (as they do every year) so I persuaded my parents to let us leave earlier than usual so that I could get on the train and into a compartment with just Becca and Joanna. However, as we entered platform 9 ¾, I was caught by surprise at the sight of the Potters already on the platform. 'Shit!' I thought, but then I realised that James wasn't there and must've already been on the train.

Mum and Dad took an extra-long time to say goodbye as Dad kept wasting time by glaring at the Potters and the Weasleys until Ron Weasley finally noticed and told him to "shove off". This is one of many reasons as to why I hate being a Malfoy; everyone hates you! Although I guess it's pretty understandable as I come from a long line of Slytherin Death Eaters.

Because of this delay in farewells, by the time Scorpius and I boarded the train, it was already full. We were just walking down the aisle of the train when I heard a familiar voice beckon me. "Viola! Oi, Vi!" I turned around to see Joanna and Becca sitting with none other than Albus, Lily and James. "Oh, hey guys, nice to see you again, but I have to go er… sit in the prefects' compartment." I said, to no avail as Scorpius had already sat down next to Al, leaving me with no choice but to sit with him, which meant sitting pposite James.

An hour had passed and I hadn't talked to anyone as Becca and Joanna were too busy flirting with James whilst Scorpius was chattering away with Lily and Al, his best friend (yet another thing my Dad thankfully doesn't know). Suddenly, Becca turned to Lily and said "By the way Lily, that was a great birthday party you had, I really enjoyed it."

"Thanks, it took ages to prepare." Responded Lily.

"I bet it did, I mean all the decorations were so gorgeous, I loved the fairy lights with real fairies!"

"Thanks, but it took an awfully long time to clear all the mess up, even with magic."

"Yeah, Mum spent three days trying to get a firewhisky stain out of James' bed sheets." Interjected Albus.

At this moment James shuffled very awkwardly in his seat and started pretending to be fascinated in the luggage rack above him.

"How did that happen anyway, Jay?" Al asked.

"I told you, Marms knocked it over." Said James shiftily. Marms was James' owl, named so because when Al was ten, he got so jealous of James having an owl, he accidentally turned the brand-new owl a marmalade colour. It's one of the many odd stories which Lily used to tell me when I was helping her with potions.

"Bollocks!" said Al, obviously unconvinced by James' lie, "I went into your bedroom later that evening and Marms was still in his cage, you liar! Just admit it James, we all know you had a girl in there."

"No I didn't! There were hardly any girls there my age anyway! They were all in Lily's year and I don't go for girls younger than me."

"Oh dear James, you're such a bad liar, and anyway, you went out with that Jenny Hopkins last year and she was only fourteen!"

"Actually, for your information, Jenny was almost fifteen and I was sixteen!"

"Yeah but you're seventeen now!"

"Oh, whatever." James snapped, obviously too annoyed to carry on their petty argument.

For the rest of the journey, everyone sat in silence, looking at anything but Al and James, for fear they might provoke another stupid argument. The Potter brothers were known for their tempers, as was their sister. Apparently they got it from their mother, but that might just be a rumour. Al and James had always been argumentative, as brothers are, but when Al was surprisingly sorted into Slytherin, James couldn't help but tease him about it. I guessed James was also jealous that Al was a little different and that he garnered attention from their parents for it, but in all honesty I think it was all in James' head.

When we arrived at Hogwarts, I was thankfully able to sit next to Becca and Joanna at the table and I was also on the other side of the hall to James as he was sitting at the Gryffindor table whilst I was sitting at the Slytherin table. However, unluckily, while we were eating, James and I kept making awkward eye-contact for a split-second and then pretending that we were looking at something else. I dreaded the next day when we'd have potions together as James and I were made to sit next to each other, meaning that we'd actually have to talk. But for that moment I just blissfully appreciated the wondrous feast in front of me. This, however, was not a good idea. Suddenly, I began to feel incredibly nauseous and I had no other choice but to dash out of the great hall, amidst many stares. I saw James eyeing me oddly, but to be honest, I wasn't surprised seeing as I had just suddenly run through the great hall with my hand over my mouth.

I spent the next half an hour puking into a toilet in the girl's bathroom on the second floor. I didn't care that Moaning Myrtle was there, it was the bathroom with the quickest access from the great hall. I also had to put up with half an hour of Moaning Myrtle giggling and asking me why I was being sick, which was possibly worse than the actual vomiting itself. 'Why oh why oh why did I get myself into this almighty mess?' I thought, as I washed vomit out of my hair. 'James Potter and his annoyingly beautiful face, that's why'.


	4. Chapter 4: Thinking

The next day I was abruptly woken by a wave of nausea passing through my body. I clamoured out of bed, noticing the dark sunset penetrating the waters of lake that were visible through several tiny windows in the dormitory. I rushed as quietly as I could to the bathroom and violently vomited into the toilet. It certainly was not a pretty sight. After spending approximately twenty minutes puking up the non-existent contents of my stomach, I returned to the dormitory and checked the time. It was only 6:00 but I was now far too awake to go back to sleep so I decided to have a shower and get ready for the day.

By seven, everyone in the dorm was awake and going down to breakfast, which I had decided to skip after the previous days' rather embarrassing incident at dinner.

"Vi, aren't you coming to breakfast with us?" asked Becca.

"No, not today, I'm still feeling unwell from last night." I said. I had told my dorm-mates that I had caught a stomach bug off my mum and thankfully they all believed me.

"Oh, ok, are you going to be alright then Vi? Do you want us to stay here with you in case you're ill again?" asked Joanna.

"No, it's alright, I'll be fine. Besides, I don't want to pass the bug on to either of you two or anyone else for that matter."

"Ok then, well we'll see you in Potions then," Replied Becca "Come on Jo, let's go." And they departed the room.

Suddenly, I remembered something. 'Crap!' I thought. I had Potions with James! And I would have to sit next to him due to Professor Slughorn's extremely inconvenient seating arrangement. 'What was he thinking when he decided to place a Potter and a Malfoy next to each other?' I thought bitterly.

An hour later I was walking along the dungeon corridor to the Potions classroom. Dread poured through me as I envisaged the awkwardness that awaited me as soon as I would enter the classroom. I just hoped against hope that Slughorn had changed his seating plan for this year, but unfortunately he hadn't.

"Ah, Miss Malfoy! Please, take a seat." Said Slughorn gleefully.

"Where abouts, Sir?"

"Oh, in your usual place!"

Bloody hell. Why oh why oh why did I have to sit next to him? As I walked up to the desk James lowered his head in an attempt to ignore my existence, so I did the same. For the first twenty minutes of potion-making we were completely silent, that was until James accidentally dropped a handful of doxy wings on my robes.

"James!" I said angrily.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Vi, I didn't mean to!"

Suddenly, we both awkwardly exchanged eye contact and then simultaneously looked away. Then, five minutes later, James spoke again:

"Vi. Why do you keep ignoring me?"

"Well that's a bit hypocritical, isn't it?"

"I'm only ignoring you because you're ignoring me!"

"Oh, shut up James."

"Look, Vi, I know you're probably feeling guilty about ," he coughed, "that night so I just wanted to say that I'm sorry and that I think we should just move on and pretend it never happened."

Well that was easy for him to say! He wasn't the one who was pregnant. He wasn't the one who was going to have to give birth and look after a baby in seven months' time. But then I thought: 'just because he's not the one who's going to give birth, doesn't mean who won't have to look after the kid.' I sighed to myself. Should I tell James about the baby? His baby? Would he stick around or would he run a mile at the thought of being a teenage father? My mind seemed to agree with the latter, but maybe I was being inconsiderate and underestimating James' ability to be a mature adult.

"Mmm." I replied, absorbed in my thoughts.

James looked puzzled for a second and then said: "By the way Vi, are you alright? It's just that your friend Becca told me you were ill yesterday and that's why you ran out of the great hall at dinner."

"Um yeah, my mum had a stomach bug just before the start of term so I think that I must've gotten it off her."

"Oh right. Well I hope you feel better soon. Stomach bugs are horrible, I remember when I was six I got one and I was throwing up for two weeks on end. But then Lil' got it so that was funny." He chuckled.

Ok so maybe he didn't have the ability to be mature, but then again, neither does any other 17-year-old boy. However, I admit I was quite impressed at his discreet approach to the whole sleeping together thing. James has been known to shout about any girl he's gotten off with at a party, but for some reason he didn't seem to want to do that anymore, thank goodness.

The rest of the Potions lesson went by reasonably quickly as James decided to tell me about the time when his dad freed my grandad's old house elf, Dobby. He seemed to think it would annoy me but to be honest, the whole Malfoy thing didn't mean much to me. It was just a name, I didn't care about Slytherin superiority or Pureblood tradition and even if I did then it wouldn't matter as I was still carrying a half-blood baby. Of course, James descended from two major pure-blood families; the Potters and the Weasleys (not to mention the Blacks and many other ambiguous family ties), but James' grandmother was muggle-born (a filthy word to my father) and therefore made James half-blood. In a way I was glad that I was breaking the Malfoy tradition. It had been hard enough coming to Hogwarts with my pureblood Malfoy status, not that anyone had a problem with my blood status, but the fact that it was common knowledge that my family hated half-bloods and muggle-borns didn't help with the already preconceived ideas that people had about me. Hopefully my child wouldn't have to put up with all the prejudice that surrounded the family.

This got me thinking, what surname was I going to give to my baby? Potter? Malfoy? Or perhaps a poncy double-barrelled name? It was all so overwhelming. I didn't even know whether I was going to keep this baby or not and if I did I didn't know how I'd be able to give it a normal life, what with James constantly being in the media spotlight (which is understandable seeing as he's the first-born child of Harry Potter) and with the fact that practically the whole wizarding world knew about the long line of disputes between the Potters and the Malfoys (not forgetting the Weasleys of course).

The rest of the day went by quite smoothly, apart from the odd temporary feelings of sickness in the pit of my stomach in the middle of lessons, but thankfully I was able to get through the whole day without being sick again. That was until after dinner. Skipping breakfast and eating a miniscule lunch had left me extremely hungry, meaning that I stupidly decided to pig-out on everything in sight on the dinner table. Everyone watched as I piled tomato ketchup on top of my mint and pistachio ice-cream, an interesting craving I had been experiencing all day. "Er Vi, are you alright?" asked Al.

"Yep, just hungry." I said, looking up at the almost carbon-copy of James. Suddenly I realised, Al was going to be an uncle. An uncle to the baby growing inside me, as was Scorpius (not to mention Lily being an aunt!), Bloody hell! I had never really thought about the effects this baby could have on not only my family but James' too. Of course I knew that the endless tensions between the two families would only worsen, but I had never really considered how James' family, especially Al, might take this. I suddenly felt extremely guilty and I had no idea why. I needed to get away so I excused myself and left the hall. Feeling slightly sick, I trudged down to the girls' toilets in the dungeons (I would have gone to the toilets on the second floor but I didn't want to have to face Moaning Myrtle again). The vomiting wasn't nearly as bad as it had been in the morning, but it was still a horrible ordeal to have to go through.

As I wrapped myself up in my bedding later that night, I engrossed myself into my thoughts. I knew I had to tell James, it was his right to know, but I just didn't know how or when to approach him. I contemplated the thought of telling my mother and father. I cringed at the thought of mum's disappointed face and dad's disgusted one. I knew that there was no chance in hell of them understanding. 'Why if they won't support me?' I thought worriedly. Would my parents really be shallow enough to abandon their own flesh and blood just because of one stupid, stupid mistake? It was hard to predict as my parents were unpredictable people, but if there was one thing I did know, it was that there was no way I was going to come out of this situation unscathed.


	5. Chapter 5: Messing Everything Up

The first month at Hogwarts had flown by incredibly quickly, which was surprising as not that much had happened. My morning sickness was finally starting to become weaker and less frequent and James and I had made some forms of conversation in Potions. However, in the past month there had been one event which took place: Quidditch trials.

Al Potter was captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team due to his outstanding skills which he inherited from his father and grandfather and not to mention his mother, former captain of the Holyhead Harpies. Al had to hold trials for the new school year, but this was no easy feat, as he explained to me:

"Do you remember last year's trials, Vi?" he asked, cutting up his steak and kidney pie.

"Yeah, course I do, packed full with first-years all hoping to get new brooms from their parents." I chuckled, eating some toast.

"Mmm, it's a shame that's not going to happen this year, not to say that I liked the first-years being there, but there's always one hidden talent amongst them."

"What? Why wouldn't they be there?" I asked confusedly.

"It's McGonagall. She's banned all first-years from playing on the school teams."

"But why?"

"Apparently there were some complaints from Sean Park's parents after he fell off his broom last year, causing the governors to persuade, or should I say force, McGonagall to disallow first-years from playing."

"What?! But that's ridiculous! Some of the best players started playing for their houses when they were first-years! Like your dad!"

"I know, I know, but at least everyone from last year's team is still here, so if everyone does well in the trials then hopefully we'll win the cup again."

"Erm, actually Al, I've been meaning to speak to you about that… I'm not going to try-out this year." I said anxiously. I'd been part of the Slytherin Quidditch team since my third-year playing seeker just like my Dad.

"WHAT?! But Vi, you're the best seeker in the whole of Slytherin house! And it's your last year here, why wouldn't you try-out?" he replied angrily.

"Well that's exactly it, Al, as you said it's my final year at Hogwarts and I really want to focus on my classwork and revision." I lied. I desperately wanted to continue playing but I knew that because of the baby I couldn't. I'm sure that if Albus knew Quidditch might harm his niece or nephew then he'd be more understanding, but as he doesn't know, I guess lying through my teeth really was the best option.

"Viola Malfoy! That is the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard! You've got to play! We can't win without you!"

"I'm sorry Al, I really am but I'm afraid that I'm not changing my mind."

"Fine! Have fun studying." He exclaimed before storming off out of the Great Hall.

'That went well.' I thought cynically. If only I could have told Al the truth, but then he'd probably be even more angry with me for sleeping with his brother. It was all just one big mess. 

After dinner I trudged down to my dorm and changed into my pyjamas. It was only then that I noticed something. A bump. It was only small but still slightly visible under my cotton pyjama shirt. 'Shit!' I thought, 'this is really happening!' I hadn't given much thought to the fact that pregnancy is a visible thing. I guess I'd been too preoccupied with homework and trying not to be sick. It finally dawned on me that this bump was being made by a baby, a real human being. A child! A child with a Mum and a Dad, James and I, parents! 'Bloody hell!' I thought, 'I'm going to be a mother!' No longer was there any doubt in my mind. I had to keep this baby, I already felt too maternally attached to it to let go. I'd have to tell James, my parents, Scorpius, Al, Lily, Becca, Joanna and just about everyone else in my life, maybe even my cat, but I didn't care. I was having this baby no matter what.

The next weekend was a Hogsmeade one. The prospect of this used to excite me but now the whole thing just seemed so childish that sometimes I didn't even bother to go. However, this weekend wasn't any old Hogsmeade weekend as I was going to hospital to have my first prenatal scan. I decided to go to a muggle hospital as I didn't want to bump into any familiar faces at St. Mungo's, for instance, my parents or any of their friends.

As soon as Ieft the Hogwarts gates, I subtly disapparated onto a busy muggle street in Manchester and found myself stood outside of a large hospital. The woman at reception told me to stay in the waiting room on the third floor until my name was called. To my horror, the room was full of middle-aged pregnant women looking smug with their handsome husbands and terribly polite children. 'Great, just what I wanted, a bunch of judgemental, patronising people to pity me' I thought bitterly. I sat awkwardly on a small chair, waiting for what seemed a lifetime for my name to be called. I was receiving glares from all around the room. I was the only teenager there and subsequently the odd one out. Nearby I heard a woman mutter to her husband "Kids these days, they all just jump at sex and expect no consequences. I bet the father's a druggie too, they always are at that age." I was just about to shout a response at the woman when a door opened behind me and I heard a female voice call my name.

"Viola Malfoy?"

"Yep." I muttered as I walked towards the doctor's room. She raised her eyebrows slightly at me but then her face relaxed into a smile as she welcomed me into her room.

"Hello there, I'm Dr. Johnson," She said, "How are you feeling today Miss. Malfoy?"

"Alright I guess." I murmured, still angry at the ignorant woman in the waiting room.

"Good, good! Now, you're here for your three month check-up, am I correct?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, brilliant, well let's see how baby is!" her voice was starting to grate on me now, but I guess my anger was just my inner Malfoy coming through.

I lay on a clinical-looking bed wrapped in white paper and lifted up my shirt so that my now fully-visible bump was exposed. Dr. Johnson then smeared a cold gel on my stomach and moved some strange muggle device over it. Suddenly, a picture appeared on the monitor beside me. On the screen was a small white being with tiny legs and arms and a very large head. It was so weird yet so beautiful that I began to cry. This was my little baby and I closer to it than ever before. The doctor then let me hear the baby's heartbeat and I cried even more.

Eventually Dr. Johnson left the room to print off a picture for me, which I put in my pocket for safe-keeping. It was so magical, more magical than any spell or incantation. It was a real baby and it was mine. 

I disapparated back to the Hogwarts gates and was just about to walk into the school's grounds when I heard a voice behind me.

"Vi? What're you doing?" asked Albus Potter.

"Al! You scared me!" I exclaimed.

"Don't try and change the subject Viola. I saw you, just then! You disapparated."

"Yeah, and?"

"You're not allowed to leave Hogwarts during term time."

"Yeah well… I had something to do."

"And what was that?"

"Look Al, I know I angered you but you have no right to know my private business!" I said heatedly. I began to walk off until suddenly Al called my name again.

"Viola! You dropped something." He said, going to pick something up. Oh no. It was the baby picture.

"Er, Vi, what's..." he said, trailing off as he picked up the picture.

"That's nothing!" I shouted anxiously, snatching the picture off him.

"That's not nothing Viola. I'm not stupid you know! You're pregnant, aren't you?!" he said, his eyes widening.

"Al I-"

"So that's why you've given up Quidditch! God, what the hell were you thinking Vi? You're seventeen for goodness' sake!" he shouted.

"I didn't plan this Albus!"

"Yeah well you still had sex, didn't you?! Who's the father anyway, or do you not know?" He was getting really nasty now. He had always been nice around me so his behaviour was quite surprising.

"That's none of your business, and of course I know who the father is, you prat! I'm not some slag!"

"That's what they all say."

"Oh yeah, like you'd have any idea!"

"You've messed up everything Viola!"

"Oh no, I'm truly sorry if your niece or nephew has ruined your chances of winning some Quidditch games!" Oh fuck. Did I actually just say that? There was silence for a moment until Al spoke again.

"My what?"

"Nothing." I replied hastily.

"Viola, tell me what you just said." He was seething now. I thought I could even see a glimmer of tears in his bright green eyes.

"It was nothing Al, honestly." I said quietly.

"You slept with James, didn't you." He said surprisingly calmly so that I couldn't work out his emotions. I remained silent and just looked at my shoes.

"TELL ME, VI!" He was properly shouting now, it was actually quite scary.

"Yes..." I said, seeing no other way out of it now.

"Merlin, Vi! Out of anyone you could have slept with it had to be my brother?! And now you're pregnant? How could you do this? Does he even know?" he spat. He was properly crying now. I knew he'd been having a long-running feud with James ever since Al was sorted into Slytherin, but I never knew he hated him this much.

"I'm sorry Al, I never meant for any of this to happen! It was a mistake! Please don't tell James!" I said, now fighting back my own tears.

"Just leave me alone." He said emotionlessly, walking off. All the elation I had been feeling after the scan was now gone. Al was right, I really had messed everything up and it felt horrible.


	6. Chapter 6: Truth Will Out

The next couple of weeks were torture. Al had been ignoring me and the stress of knowing that he could tell James about the baby at any time had caused my morning sickness to return. On top of all of that my bump was now getting near impossible to hide so I had to resort to wearing my cloak everywhere around school, which was uncomfortable to say the least. But then, to make matters worse, James had acquired a new girlfriend. In any other circumstances I wouldn't have been jealous of Claire Summers in the slightest; James was a cocky, big-headed clown who only appeared to care about himself. However, these weren't normal circumstances and Claire had now made my already messy situation even messier. After Al found out about the baby I felt I had to tell James as he wouldn't want his brother knowing before him, however when Becca told me that he'd started going out with Claire, I had to put those plans aside. James seemed really happy with Claire and I didn't want to spoil his first 'serious' relationship. Claire was perfect for James, she was a pretty, red-headed Gryffindor; exactly his type of girl. However, James seemed oblivious to the fact that she was an outright bitch to anyone who got in the way of what she wanted.

Potions lessons were also a nightmare as James never stopped talking about her. However, whenever Claire saw that James was talking to me she'd automatically saunter over to our desk and interrupt us. At first I didn't mind as it meant I could get on with my work but after a couple of lessons it started to get annoying. Extremely annoying. She seemed to think that the fact that I was just _sitting_ next to James would be enough make him break up with her to be with me, which was ridiculous. I guessed that she was just wary of James' reputation as a 'player' who liked to switch between girls at a frequent rate, but that gave her no excuse to be a downright bitch to me. I'll give you an example of this:

About three weeks after James and Claire had started going out, I was sitting in a Potions lesson whilst talking to James about dragons (don't ask me why, I honestly don't know) when suddenly Claire came striding up to our desk and stole my stool so that I almost fell over. I wouldn't have been so angry if it weren't for the fact that she could have almost harmed my baby. However, I contained my anger and continued to work standing up. However, that wasn't the worst of it; for the rest of the lesson she casually insulted me and remarked about how James preferred redheads over blondes, etc, etc. But what hurt the most was the fact that James didn't even bother to stick up for me. He just let Claire talk as he stared at her. I didn't understand how he could like her so much; she was a malicious cow. The only way James could have possibly liked her was because of her looks and it angered me so much. I didn't want James myself, but I didn't want Claire to have him. It's hard to explain, but when the father of your unborn child is in a relationship with an outright bitch then you can't help but feel somewhat sad.

Claire was annoying me so much that I had decided to ignore her and James altogether and try and temporarily forget about my baby's paternity, but I couldn't. Just seeing James' face around the corridors was making me feel guilty about not having told him yet. I knew I had to but now with Claire around I just didn't see how. However, to make matters worse, these guilty feelings almost tripled whenever I saw Al in and around Hogwarts. He didn't appear to be quite himself and his bright eyes had almost lost their sparkle. I knew that Al was annoyed with me; he had all the reason to be- but I just couldn't fathom why he seemed to be so upset about the whole malarkey. Even Scorpius had noticed a change in him:

"Vi, is it just me or does Al seem a little _different_ recently?" asked Scorpius at dinner time after Albus had left to do some homework.

"Er, I dunno. I guess." I mumbled.

"It's just that he's been a bit more reclusive recently and he just seems somewhat down."

"Look Scorp, I really haven't got time for this at the moment, I've got a pile of Transfiguration homework due in for tomorrow which I need to get cracking on." I said hurriedly, finishing off my apple crumble.

"Even James has noticed, everyone has."

"Wait, James has noticed?" I asked anxiously, stopping all movement.

"Er, that's what I just said, isn't it? Anyway, why does it matter to you?"

"Oh no, it doesn't, it's just…" I stumbled, trying to think of something to say, "It's just that James doesn't really spend so much time with Al so I wouldn't have thought that he'd have paid much attention, especially considering that he seems so transfixed with_ Claire_." I said, bitterly emphasising my last words.

"Actually, I think you'll find that James doesn't like Claire as much as he appears to."

"What?"

"Well, y'know, you can kind of tell from his body language. Every time Claire comes up to James, he shifts uncomfortably and when he smiles around her it seems just a little bit _forced_."

"Hmm. How come I've never noticed this?"

"Because you're a girl and girls don't really notice male body language as they're too busy focusing on their hair or whatever it is you females like to do with your spare time." He said.

"Oh whatever." I said, walking off. But come to think of it, Scorpius had a point. James was becoming slightly more hostile towards Claire, not that I minded. However, it worried me that James had noticed Al's secluded behaviour of late as, if he questioned Al about it, he could just go ahead and tell him. Of course I had noticed that Al had been completely ignoring James, but I'd never thought that James would noticed; he seemed too self-absorbed to pay attention to his brother even when he was acting his usual self. In fact, Al had been sending glares in James' direction whenever he saw him, but I just hoped that it wouldn't be enough to make James actually talk to Al about it.

But, as per usual, I was wrong; however not entirely. James didn't ask Al about his problems, but he did do something else. I was walking into the Transfiguration courtyard when I heard what sounded like a rather loud shouting match:

"What the hell is your problem lately, Al? I know we don't have the best of relationships but to outright ignore me and even_ glare_ at me as if I've got a dog turd smeared on my forehead is completely out of character for you, Al!"

"Shut up, James! You don't know anything!" replied Al. A crowd was now gathering in the courtyard, eager to see what all the racket was about. Meanwhile, I was standing rooted to the spot, worriedly wondering what the hell was going on.

"Well then help me, Al! How do you expect me to know anything if you won't tell me?!"

"Maybe instead of waiting to be told you should go and find out for yourself, I mean it's your responsibility after all!"

"_What's_ my responsibility, Al?!" asked James frustratedly, ignoring the crowd surrounding himself and his brother.

"Nothing…" said Al, avoiding James' eyes.

"Bollocks! I know there's something you're not telling me, Al. I know you, I can tell when you're upset about something!"

"It's got nothing to do with you." Said Al, mumbling.

"Oh so whatever you're not telling me is my responsibility and yet it has nothing to do with me? For goodness' sake Al, make your mind up!"

"Just leave it, yeah?"

"No, I will not 'just leave it', tell me what the problem is, Al"!

"No! You'll just make everything worse, like you always do!"

"What are you on about?!"

"You! You always have to be in the spotlight, you always have to take a situation and make it much worse than it already is!"

"What?! Al, I have no idea what you're on about right now!"

"You knew I loved her and yet you went and slept with her like she was some sort of toy to be used and then thrown away!"

"Loved _who_?!" asked James as he ran his ran through his messy black hair.

"Viola!" shouted Al. The crowd of students all started whispering to each other in surprise.

"How did you…?" said James, looking shocked.

"She told me."

"What?! Why?"

"Oh, believe me, it wasn't out of choice!"

"Well then why did she tell _you_?!"

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because she's PREGNANT!" shouted Albus, glaring at James, completely oblivious of my presence. Suddenly the crowd were whispering even quicker as they digested the news. All I could think was 'shit, this isn't how I planned it'.

"She's… what?!"

"Pregnant! Happy now that you' know what your litte problem is?"

It was only then that the two boys seemed to notice me in the corner. James stared at me, wide-eyed with shock, his eyes momentarily flicking to me concealed stomach. Al shifted uncomfortably, I never had an inkling of thought that Al loved me, although I guess it explained his irrational behaviour and reaction to my pregnancy.

"You're lying." said James after a long silence.

"What, you think I'm making this up? Do you have any idea of the mess you've made?!" asked Al, with angry tears in his eyes. Then James shrugged arrogantly.

"You PRAT! You absolute GIT, JAMES!" shouted Al, before punching James square in the face.

"Argh, fuck off Al!" exclaimed James angrily before punching Al back and then storming angrily back into the castle. Well now everything was truly screwed up. James had walked away as if he had nothing to do with it all, when he had everything to do with it.

"Al, I… I never knew. I'm so sorry." I murmured quietly to Albus, who was nursing a bloody nose.

"Yeah well, it's too late for that now, isn't it."

"Please, Al, understand that I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"I know you didn't, but that's not the point. You're having my brother's kid and nothing's going to change that."

"Al, just because I'm having James' baby doesn't mean we have to stop being friends!"

"Viola, you put a stop to our friendship as soon as you slept with James! You've ruined everything!"

"I'm _sorry _Al" I cried desperately, but to no avail; Al had already walked back into the castle, clutching his nose, leaving me standing amongst the group of students staring at me and whispering. I couldn't help but feel like an animal at a zoo being put on display for the whole world to see just because of one stupid mistake, and that's exactly what it was, a stupid mistake.


	7. Chapter 7: Explosions

I tried running after Al, but to no avail; he had already gone out of sight, but I did run into someone.

"Argh! Vi, what're you doing?" asked a flustered Scorpius.

"Sorry – just trying – to find – Al" I said, out of breath from running.

"_Al_? Why do you want to find _Al_?" he asked confusedly. I decided there was nothing else for it; I had to tell him before anyone else did. I dragged him to a couple of chairs in a deserted classroom, making him even more confused.

"Scorp, there's something I need to tell you which I should have told you a long, _long_ time ago," I said, looking him straight in the eye, "Please don't judge me Scorp, because this may shock you. A lot."

"Well I'm sure it can't be that bad; whatever it is, we can sort it out."

"I'm pregnant, Scorpius." Suddenly he broke eye contact with me and stared at the floor, mouth slightly open.

"But Vi, you're only _seventeen_." He murmured, still staring at the floor.

"Do you think I hadn't already realised that?" I asked condescendingly.

"Sorry. It's just I've no idea what to say right now."

"It's alright." There was a slight pause until Scorpius suddenly jumped up.

"Wait a second! You were trying to find Al! Please don't say it's him, not my _best friend_, Vi!"

"What?! No, no you've got it wrong! The baby's not Al's!"

"Oh," he said, returning to his seat, "Then… _who_?"

I took a deep breath and then apprehensively mumbled "James". Scorpius' head instantaneously shot up as he stared, open-mouthed, taking in what I had just said. Then he ran his hands through his hair and sunk his head into them.

"Shit," He said, the word reflecting all of my current feelings and thoughts, "that must be why he seemed so upset; you told him, didn't you?"

"I didn't mean to… it just sort of happened. You know he said something to James, something about _loving_ me; Is that true?"

Scorpius sighed for a moment and then replied "Yes".

"Oh merlin, I feel so bad right now; I had no idea!"

"So I'm guessing James knows then?"

"Yeah, Al just shouted it in his face actually and then he ran off after having a fist-fight with him."

"Oh right, that's… unfortunate. So anyway, how far along are you then?"

"About five months."

"FIVE MONTHS!? And James only knows about this NOW? How long have you known?!"

"Since the end of August." I muttered, ashamedly. Guilty feelings were now taking over my body like a wave; I should have told James earlier, after all he had a right to know. But I guess it was useless to dwell on those thoughts any longer.

"AUGUST?! Merlin, Vi! It's no wonder he ran off, he's probably in complete shock right now, and to be honest I don't really blame him! You do realise that Mum and Dad are going to kill you, right? I mean, just think about it: Dad's first grandchild is also going to be the first grandchild of his old rival Harry Potter, not forgetting the fact that this baby is probably going to be the first child born into the Malfoy family without a pureblood status! Dad's going to be furious!"

"_Please_ don't remind me, I'm worried enough about everything already." I said, choking up. Suddenly Scorp pulled me into a comforting, brotherly hug. It felt so nice to just let some of my feelings escape my head. What I really needed was a pensieve to empty my head every once in a while, like my father had in his study at home.

Unfortunately, mine and Scorpius' hug was suddenly interrupted by the door of the classroom opening to reveal Professor McGonagall, the headmistress.

"Miss Malfoy, I was wondering if I might ask you to come with me to my office in light of recent events."

"What recent events?" I asked, trying to act clueless.

"I think you know very well what I'm talking about, Miss Malfoy. The Potter boys didn't get bloody noses for no reason, now will you _please_follow me."

"Wait! Professor McGonagall, could I please come?" interjected Scorpius as I stood up to join Professor McGonagall.

"I don't really see how this matter concerns you, Mr Malfoy."

"Please Professor, I'd feel bad if I just left her on her own right now, especially as she's so upset."

Professor McGonagall finally sighed and said "Fine, but only for moral support; you're not getting any chocolate newts from me." She said with a slight twinkle in her eye as if she was resisting the urge to smile in this rather serious situation. She then led us out of the classroom and up to her office. I was getting increasingly nervous as I didn't know how much she knew nor who else would be there. Much sooner than I would have liked, we arrived at the stone gargoyle guarding to entrance to her office and ascended up its spiralling staircase. Professor McGonagall then opened the door and to my dismay I saw none other than James and Albus Potter sitting on opposite sides of the rooms, their noses still slightly blotchy from punching each other. Al completely ignored me when I walked in, but through my peripheral vision I could see James eyeing me as I occupied a remaining seat whilst Scorpius leant against a wall.

"Now. Would anyone like to tell me what this is all about because I'm afraid that otherwise I will have to call in your parents." She said, directing the last part of her sentence at Al and James, who remained silent. "This is just ridiculous. You can't remain quiet forever! You said it had something to do with Miss Malfoy, so now that I've brought her and even her _brother _here I think it's time someone finally told me what is going on!" she demanded, her lips thinning.

Suddenly, Al spoke, directing his speech at his feet as he refused to look at anyone, "We got into a fight over something between _him_ and Viola." He spat, refusing to say James' name.

"And what exactly was this 'something'?" James shifted in his seat uncomfortably. I could see Scorpius glaring at him out of the corner of his eye, not that it would do any good; James was still apparently refusing to talk. "Well? Anyone?!" her question was left unanswered as she finally decided that she'd had enough of the silent treatment. "Fine, seeing as you refuse to speak up you have left me with no choice but to call your parents, maybe they'll be able to knock some words into you two." Oh merlin, this was going even worse than I thought it would. I sank slightly into my chair and took a deep breath. Lily had told me about her parents when they were angry; Ginny Potter supposedly had a temper to match her flaming red hair, but apparently Harry Potter was a completely different story. Lily told me that her Dad could either be extraordinarily calm or scarily shouty. Either way, I was not looking forward to what was to come.

Professor McGonagall sent a patronus to Mr Potter as she didn't want to have to send an owl due to the amount of time it would take. After a very awkward ten minutes, the Potters arrived at McGonagall's door, looking very confused indeed. "Ah, Harry, Ginny, I'm so sorry to have called out here today and I'm guessing that you're probably very confused at the moment, am I right?"

"Well, yes. Why exactly have you called us here Minerva?" asked Ginny, staring at James, obviously presuming him to be the reason; he was a renowned troublemaker after all. Harry, however, obviously knew there had to be a reason as to why both his sons were in Professor McGonagall's office as I noticed him eyeing not only James but also Al.

"Well I'm afraid that earlier your sons got themselves into a fist-fight in front a crowd of students and they ended up punching each other in the face and apparently swearing and shouting. I have tried to understand the reason behind their barbaric actions, but I'm afraid that all they'll tell me is that they were fighting over something to do with Miss Malfoy, hence her attendance here today." She said, gesturing towards me. I felt my face flush with embarrassment as Ginny and Harry looked at me. I could tell that Harry knew something his wife didn't from the look of deep thought on his face.

"For goodness' sakes, you BOYS!" exclaimed Ginny, her face reddening, "Do you not care about _dignity_? You don't just go punching your own brother because you're annoyed! What the hell is wrong with you two?! Honestly James, you should have stopped your argument from ever getting that bad, you're eldest after all! I'm so disappointed in you two, _brawling in public_?! You'd better explain yourselves as you're not only wasting our's and Professor McGonagall's time but also your own!"

Then, Al looked up at me for the first time in that office and proceeded to speak to his parents, "Viola's pregnant." I guess Al had realised there was no other way of getting out of the situation besides telling the truth. In a way I appreciated the weight being taken off my shoulders, but I couldn't help feeling annoying for Al blurting it out so suddenly like that.

"She's… wait, what has this got to do with anything?!" inquired Ginny, however Harry and McGonagall seemed to have cottoned on to what Al was really trying to say. Ginny looked at Harry and then suddenly widened her eyes, "ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER! ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I THINK YOU'RE SAYING?! DID YOU SLEEP WITH VIOLA?!" she asked furiously.

"What?! No, Mum! It's not mine, it's _his_." He said spitefully, glaring at James who had now gone very pale. Harry had gone equally as pale; it was his turn to speak now:

"_James_? _Please_ tell me it's not true." He said quietly, but with a definite tone of anger present in his voice. James was silent for a moment before giving a small nod. "James, what the hell were you thinking?! You knew Al liked Viola, and yet you went and _slept_ with her? What sort of brother are you?"

"Dad, I'm sorry, I didn't realise Al _loved_ her, I just thought it was a stupid crush or something! We were drunk!"

"That's still no excuse for what you did, James! I hate to say it but you really disappoint me sometimes." Said Harry, staring his son straight in the eye. Ginny and Professor McGonagall, meanwhile, were staring in shock at James, until Harry spoke again, "But of course I have to say that I'm also disappointed in you Viola. I may not know you personally but I've heard good things about you and while I am disappointed in you both, I appreciate that this matter will obviously be harder for you, Viola, what with your family and your father especially. Therefore, whatever your father makes of this, I would like you to know that we will willingly support you; family is incredibly important to us."

Although Harry was semi-telling me off, his words were kind and I appreciated them immensely; I had been worrying about whether or not my parents would offer me support, so I was grateful that Harry was offering me a back-up plan if my parents did choose to disown me or just refuse to give support.

"Speaking of family, I'm afraid that the circumstances call for the need to bring in your parents too, Miss Malfoy." Said Professor McGonagall sternly. My immediate thought was 'WHY?' but I soon came to the conclusion that it was better telling them sooner than later. For the fifteen minutes that we spent waiting for my parents to arrive, Harry went to talk quietly with Al whilst Ginny continued to tell James off. If I wasn't so scared of the imminent arrival of my parents, I probably would have found James' facial expressions funny. He was obviously absolutely terrified of his mother when she was angry as his face kept screwing up and he continued to sink lower and lower in his chair.

Then, we were interrupted by my parents. Oh merlin, this was not going to go down well. "_Potter?_ What are you and your _offspring _doing here?" asked my Dad, snarling. Harry ignored him and suddenly my Dad turned his attentions on me. "Viola, can you please explain to me why I've had to be dragged out of work to come here?" he asked. Meanwhile, my Mum was behind my Dad, standing next to Scorpius.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall spoke, " I'm afraid to have to tell you Draco that I had to call yourself and your wife because your daughter here is pregnant."

"What?!" Dad snapped, looking at me furiously. Mum also looked shocked, but not nearly as much as Dad. "When did this happen?!" he inquired further.

"End of June." I murmured. Suddenly the shock reverberated all around the room. Harry and Ginny both had raised eyebrows and James was gawping, obviously he hadn't done the maths and worked out that his baby was due in four months.  
"YOU'RE FIVE MONTHS PREGNANT?!" shouted my father. "BUT YOU'RE A TEENAGER!"

"Draco, calm down, please." Pleaded my mother, but it was no use, Dad wouldn't stop.

"So who's the father then?" he finally spat out after a minute of heavy breathing.

"Er, James." I said, almost whispering now. I noticed Al had returned to looking glumly at his shoes and James had stiffened, ready to be shouted at by my Dad.

"James who?" asked my Dad, obviously forgetting the name of Harry Potter's first born.

"Me." Said James unexpectedly. I suddenly spun around in my chair to face him, it was obvious that he could no longer stand the tension in the room as he was now standing up, staring my father right in the eye.

"YOU?! VIOLA! HOW COULD YOU…? A POTTER? A FILTHY HALF-BLOOD?!" he shouted, a vein twitching in his temple, "YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO THE MALFOY FAMILY!"

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you Dad, but you and your father did that a long time ago!" I shouted back, eager to let out all my pent-up frustrations about my family.

"That's all in the past now, Viola!" said my Dad, now slightly quieter than before.

"Well then if you can put your Death Eater days in the past, then why can't you also put your rivalry with James' dad and your hatred for half-bloods and muggle-borns in the past too?!"

Dad looked at me for a second before exclaiming "I've had enough from you! This is ridiculous! How dare you disrespect your own father like that!". He then proceeded to leave, Mum trailing behind him. She mouthed "I'm sorry" but I knew that if she truly cared then she would have stood up for me.

"Well, James, I think you have some apologies to make here." Said Ginny quietly after a long silence. James looked at me and said "I'm sorry Vi, I really really don't know what to say right now, I'm just completely overwhelmed, it's all a bit too much right now." I nodded to acknowledge his apology before he turned to Al and said "I'm sorry for punching you and I'm sorry for sleeping with Vi when I knew that you fancied her, but I just want you to know that I didn't do it intentionally just to hurt you." However, Al continued to ignore him. Oh dear, brothers and love lives really do not mix well.


	8. Chapter 8: Choices to Make

***James' POV- starting at the end of Chapter Six***

"What?! Al, I have no idea what you're on about right now!" I said, exasperated from the long argument I had been having with my younger brother.

"You knew I loved her and yet you went and slept with her like she was some sort of toy to be used and then thrown away!" Oh shit. How did he know about that? He must have been talking about Viola. Maybe I told him whilst I was still drunk? My thoughts drifted to that night – Lily's birthday; the dancing, bad karaoke, alcohol and Viola. There she was, looking amazing in her striking blue dress. I'd never really given her much notice before, but that night she looked beautiful. I also remember being incredibly drunk and subsequently swaying over to her to flirt after Lily had gone. Many people see me as a womaniser, but the truth is that Lily's birthday was the night I lost my virginity. I'd never planned to even talk to Viola Malfoy, let alone sleep with her! But then she left before I could say goodbye and I never saw her until that September. She looked a little tired when I next saw her; she had slight bags under her eyes and her uniform was a little bedraggled, however her skin was glowing and her hair looked shinier than usual.

"Loved who?!" I asked, pretending to be confused after I dragged myself away from my thoughts whilst ruffling up my hair in anxiety. Then, at that moment, I suddenly registered what he had said. Al _loved _Viola? I knew he liked her but I had absolutely no idea that he _loved_ her!

"Viola!" he shouted. Of course, I suspected that response, but I still had to act surprised. The crowd around us all made stupid gasping noise. Sometimes the younger students could be so immature.

"How did you…?" I asked, looking 'shocked'.

"She told me." Okay, now I really was shocked. Why the hell would Viola tell _Al_? By the look on her face recently she still seemed traumatised about the whole thing, so why would she tell _Al_? It seemed a little too out-of-character of her.

"What?! Why?" I replied, now genuinely confused.

"Oh believe me, it wasn't out of choice!"

"Well then why did she tell you?!" I exclaimed.

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because she's PREGNANT!" shouted Albus, glaring at me. For a split-second I didn't understand what he had said, then BANG. I suddenly felt an unpleasant falling sensation in my stomach. Viola couldn't be… no. Or at least if she was… _y'know_, then there was a high chance it wasn't mine, surely? However, these thoughts were soon clouded by immediate worries. What if she really was having a baby, and the baby was mine?! Oh shit, fucking shit, MERLIN! I don't want a kid! I'm only seventeen, for goodness' sake! I can barely look after my owl, let alone a child.

"She's… what?!" I said, wanting some sort of clarification to check that I wasn't dreaming or drunk for some reason.

"Pregnant! Happy now that you' know what your little problem is?" Oh shite. I'm not dreaming, or drunk… or high (not that I would be as, contrary to popular belief, I'm not into that stuff). Suddenly, I saw a figure slightly disjointed from the rest of the now frantically-whispering crowd. It was her, Viola, and for some reason I couldn't help but look at her concealed stomach. She'd certainly done a good job hiding any sort of bump. Then again, with the little I know about pregnancy, she might not even have a bump yet. But, as I say, what do I know?

"You're lying." I said, trying to make it into a proper statement.

"What, you think I'm making this up? Do you have any idea of the mess you've made?!" asked Al, with angry tears in his eyes. I didn't know what to say, his crying had caught me by surprise so I just shrugged, clueless of what else I could possibly do. However, Al seemed to think that I meant it arrogantly, and launched on me.

"You PRAT! You absolute GIT, JAMES!" shouted Al, before punching me square in the face unexpectedly. Suddenly pain projected through my face and the rest of my body. I knew I deserved what I was getting, but Al wasn't getting off of me, so I had to retaliate.

"Argh, fuck off Al!" I exclaimed, before punching Al back. I could not only feel blood running from my nose, but also the eyes of the many crowd of students glaring at me as if I was Lord Voldemort reincarnated. I'd had enough, my head was bursting with anger and worries so I stormed back into the castle and ran to my left, reaching the foot of a staircase, wiping my forehead of sweat. Suddenly, I heard running footsteps behind me and before I knew it, Al was right behind me.

"Al!" I said, surprised, "Look, please don't punch me again, I'm-" however I was cut off by another punch, this time on my arm.

"Oi! Al, geroff!" I struggled. Then, I heard more footsteps, this time slightly lighter than Al's, but quick nevertheless.

"BOYS! WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" shouted Professor McGonagall, hurrying as fast as she could down the corridor, subsequently breaking us up.

"Sorry – Professor –" I gasped, before yet again being interrupted (I'm starting to think that people don't like to hear me end a sentence).

"What are you two fighting about?!" she demanded angrily, her lips visibly thinning.

"It's – about… Viola - Malfoy." I said, inbetween breaths. Al was now completely avoiding Professor McGonagall's glare. Then she sighed and muttered something about 'brothers' before leading us up to her office and sitting us on opposite sides of the room. Oh merlin, I really didn't want to be here. McGonagall soon left to get Viola. How was I supposed to react when she would walk in? Was I supposed to hug her, congratulate her? No, that would be completely inappropriate and insensitive. Whilst Al and I continued to ignore each other and I was engrossed in my thoughts, I looked up and saw a portrait. Professor Dumbledore's portrait. As I looked at him he appeared to slightly smile at me, a spark igniting in his eye as if to reassure me that it wasn't all bad. I guess he was right, it could be worse; I could have killed someone or been expelled. In fact, getting the teenage girl your brother loves, who is also the daughter and granddaughter of Death Eaters pregnant whilst still being the teenage son of 'The Boy Who Lived' who is famous for killing the most evil dark wizard of all time and fighting Death Eaters, one of whom is your dad's greatest school enemy didn't seem all that bad in comparison. Oh shit, I was doomed.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by Professor McGonagall returning with not only Viola, but her brother Scorpius (who is also Al's best friend). As Viola walked in, I noticed something I had not noticed before, due to heavy concealment; a baby bump. And a rather large one at that. You probably wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't have known it was there It was that moment that I finally began to appreciate the horrible mess I'd gotten myself into. That wasn't just any old bump, it was my baby. My child. Someone who I'd biologically have responsibility over for the next eighteen years. Bloody hell, I was going to be a kid's Dad! I was going to have to change nappies, feed, clothe and look after a kid! Yet I didn't feel ready. Not at all. In fact, I felt like I had been returned to my childhood as I dreaded what my parents were going to say when they found out.

"Now. Would anyone like to tell me what this is all about because I'm afraid that otherwise I will have to call in your parents." Said Professor McGonagall, directing the last part of her sentence at Al and I. Neither of us knew what to say so we remained silent.

"This is just ridiculous. You can't remain quiet forever! You said it had something to do with Miss Malfoy, so now that I've brought her and even her brother here I think it's time someone finally told me what is going on!" she demanded, her lips thinning. McGonagall had a point, what was Scorpius even doing here? I guessed that he must have already known. Suddenly, I felt a surge of anger towards Viola; why is it that everyone seemed to know before me? Just how long had she been planning to hide my own baby from me? Maybe she wanted to bring the kid up on her own without telling me, but nevertheless I had a right to know earlier than today. Then again, I didn't even know if I wanted to keep this baby. I was only seventeen! I wanted to train to leave school, train to be an auror and live a fulfilled life before ever settling down and having kids! That being said, I guessed I didn't really have a choice in the matter; Viola was the one having the baby, I didn't even have to look after it if I really didn't want to.

Suddenly, Al spoke, directing his speech at his feet as he refused to look at anyone, "We got into a fight over something between him and Viola." He spat, refusing to say my name. It hurt that he was so angry towards me. We'd neverhad a great relationship ever since he'd been sorted into Slytherin. I don't know why, but he never seemed quite the same after that. And now, here he was, refusing to even say my name.

"And what exactly was this 'something'?" asked McGonagall sternly. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, aware that I was probably going to pay for my silence. "Well? Anyone?! Fine, seeing as you refuse to speak up you have left me with no choice but to call your parents, maybe they'll be able to knock some words into you two." Oh shit. Mighty shitey. Now things really were going to become uncomfortable, and that's an understatement.

Professor McGonagall sent a patronus to my Dad and an awkward ten minutes ensued. However, I wished more than anything that those ten minutes could have lasted a little longer as I anticipated my parents' anger. Finally my parents arrived, looking flustered and confused. Dad was fiddling with his tie; he'd obviously been called straight from work.

"Well, yes. Why exactly have you called us here Minerva?" asked Ginny, staring at me. I hated when she did that. She always presumed that I was the cause of everything. Then again, this time I was. Dad, however, was looking at Al, obviously appreciating that there must have been a reason for his presence too.

"Well I'm afraid that earlier your sons got themselves into a fist-fight in front a crowd of students and they ended up punching each other in the face and apparently swearing and shouting. I have tried to understand the reason behind their barbaric actions, but I'm afraid that all they'll tell me is that they were fighting over something to do with Miss Malfoy, hence her attendance here today." I could feel the fury radiating from my mother's stare. She could be incredibly scary sometimes.

"For goodness' sakes, you BOYS!" exclaimed Mum, her face reddening, "Do you not care about _dignity_? You don't just go punching your own brother because you're annoyed! What the hell is wrong with you two?! Honestly James, you should have stopped your argument from ever getting that bad, you're eldest after all! I'm so disappointed in you two, brawling in public?! You'd better explain yourselves as you're not only wasting our's and Professor McGonagall's time but also your own!"

Then, to my surprise, Al looked up at Viola for the first time in that office and proceeded to speak to his parents, "Viola's pregnant." Oh fuck. Why did he have to just blurt it out like that?

"She's… wait, what has this got to do with anything?!" inquired Mum, however Dad and McGonagall seemed to have cottoned on to what Al was really trying to say. Mum looked at Dad and then suddenly widened her eyes, "ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER! ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I THINK YOU'RE SAYING?! DID YOU SLEEP WITH VIOLA?!" she asked furiously. Oh dear, now Al had the chance to know what it was like to be properly told off by Mum. He'd always received a tamer telling-off than me whenever he was in trouble, mostly because I was always the one who got him into trouble in the first place.

"What?! No, Mum! It's not mine, it's his." He said spitefully, glaring at me. I could feel the colour leaving me face. My mother's glare said it all; I was dead. Dad had also gone very pale, and for some reason I got the feeling that he would have preferred the baby to be Al's anyway. Maybe he thought I couldn't be trusted with a baby? Or maybe he wanted the one who knocked Vi up to be the one who truly loved her? It was hard to tell but either way I felt pretty hurt; my Dad always seemed to be rather disappointed with me in comparison to Al, but perhaps I was just imagining things.

"_James_? Please tell me it's not true." He said quietly, but with a definite tone of anger present in his voice. I remained silent until I saw no other way out of it and nodded subtly. I could feel the eyes of the whole room gazing down on me. "James, what the hell were you thinking?! You knew Al liked Viola, and yet you went and _slept with her_? What sort of brother are you?" he continued. I felt like crying as if I was a little kid once again; I hated disappointing my Dad, especially as he had already done so much at my age, whereas all I had done now was father a baby.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I didn't realise Al loved her, I just thought it was a stupid crush or something! We were drunk!" I said truthfully, my voice hoarse from not having spoken for a while.

"That's still no excuse for what you did, James! I hate to say it but you really disappoint me sometimes." He replied, looking me straight in the eye. I could feel tears forming in my eyes but I blinked them away, not wanting to look weak in front of everyone. Mum and Professor McGonagall were now staring at me in shock, I supposed that McGonagall had never expected this from the first-born child of Harry Potter. It was a reflection of the pressure I'd been feeling all my life. Every time I went outside the press would almost hound me and ask me what I wanted to be when I was older. I always told them I wanted to be an auror as it seemed the easiest thing to say, leaving them very impressed that I was following in the footsteps of my father. However, after time, that truly became my aspiration, causing pressure to be mounted onto me from all angles., which was hard to say the least.

"But of course I have to say that I'm also disappointed in you Viola. I may not know you personally but I've heard good things about you and while I am disappointed in you both, I appreciate that this matter will obviously be harder for you, Viola, what with your family and your father especially. Therefore, whatever your father makes of this, I would like you to know that we will willingly support you; family is incredibly important to us." continued Dad. For a moment I felt relieved, my Dad would support me, thank goodness. But then I thought Of Viola's dad. Of course, Draco effing Malfoy. I really should have chosen a less-complicated girl to get pregnant.

"Speaking of family, I'm afraid that the circumstances call for the need to bring in your parents too, Miss Malfoy." Said Professor McGonagall sternly. Oh shit, no! Not here! Why the hell hadn't Viola told her parents yet?! I didn't want to be there for when she did! What was I supposed to say? 'Oh sorry Mr Malfoy for sleeping with your daughter, getting her pregnant and ruining her life!' I'd heard many things from my Uncle Ron about Draco Malfoy; apparently he was a stuck-up bully who only cared about blood-purity and became a Death Eater like his father. It's safe to say that I didn't exactly feel reassured.

Then, to top it all off, Mum decided to shout maniacally at me whilst we waited for Viola's parents to arrive. I tried not to listen to her as she lectured me with the typical "you're only a teenager!", "did you even use contraception?" and the clichéd "there's no rule-book on how to look after a kid!" It was torture. I sank in my seat as I looked wistfully at Al who was talking quietly to Dad. I was going to have to get a muggle hearing-aid at the rate Mum was going. Suddenly, the door of the office swung open to reveal Draco Malfoy and his wife Astoria. It was evident that Draco, like my Dad, had been called from work as he was wearing a posh suit and he appeared very annoyed.

"_Potter_? What are you and your _offspring_ doing here?" said Draco snarling. My Dad ignored him before Malfoy turned on his daughter, "Viola, can you please explain to me why I've had to be dragged out of work to come here?" he asked. Meanwhile, his wife was stood behind him, next to Scorpius, who was looking disappointedly at Viola.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall spoke, " I'm afraid to have to tell you Draco that I had to call yourself and your wife because your daughter here is pregnant." Shit. What do I do now?

"What?!" Draco snapped, looking as if he hadn't heard McGonagall correctly. Astoria looked gobsmacked and Viola just continued to sit there, looking completely terrified of her father. "When did this happen?" he inquired further.

"End of June." she murmured. Suddenly it hit meas I opened my mouth stupidly: the baby was due in FOUR MONTHS! I was going to be a dad in sixteen weeks! Fear swept over me as I started to feel panicky. I couldn't look after a kid, not in _four months_!

"YOU'RE FIVE MONTHS PREGNANT?!" shouted Malfoy. "BUT YOU'RE A TEENAGER!"

"Draco, calm down, please." Pleaded Astoria, but there was no stopping Malfoy.

"So who's the father then?" he finally spat out after a minute of heavy breathing. I was distracted from my thoughts once more as I knew that I was soon going to have to make myself known.

"Er, James." Said Viola, almost whispering now. I looked uncomfortably at my feet, preparing to be told off by Malfoy. But it didn't happen.

"James who?" he asked, obviously unaware it was me. However, I knew that I couldn't just let Viola receive all her father's wrath, so I stood up, unable to take the tension anymore.

"Me." I said as I watched Viola spin in her chair to look at me.

"YOU?! VIOLA! HOW COULD YOU…? A POTTER? A FILTHY HALF-BLOOD?!" he shouted, glaring incredulously at me whilst a vein was twitching in his temple, "YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO THE MALFOY FAMILY!" he continued, directing his speech at Viola. Once again, I felt anger bubble up inside me. How could be been so ignorant? What did it matter that I was a half-blood? What did it matter that I was a Potter? I felt like punching him and, by the look on his face, it seemed that he would have happily punched me back.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you Dad, but you and your father did that a long time ago!" replied Viola. It seemed that she had a lot of frustration about her family and, to be honest, I couldn't blame her.

"That's all in the past now, Viola!" said Malfoy, slightly more quietly than before. He was obviously ashamed of his Death Eater past. Uncle Ron had told me about how he was the one who was supposed to kill Dumbledore and how he had tried to poison him. It further consolidated my belief that Draco Malfoy really was a true coward.

"Well then if you can put your Death Eater days in the past, then why can't you also put your rivalry with James' dad and your hatred for half-bloods and muggle-borns in the past too?!"

He looked at Viola before exclaiming "I've had enough from you! This is ridiculous! How dare you disrespect your own father like that!" Astoria trailed behind him as he left, mouthing something to her daughter which I didn't quite catch.

Then, my mother spoke again, "Well, James, I think you have some apologies to make here." Oh merlin. I really didn't know how to do this. It was only when I properly approached Viola when I noticed her face. She looked so tired with bags under her eyes and a sad expression. Why hadn't I noticed this in our many Potions lessons together? I suddenly felt a stream of guilt enter my body. It was all my fault. I had ruined her life, ruined her relationship with her father and now he had appeared to disown her all because of me. I felt like hugging her, just to do something to cheer her up and erase my guilt. And yet, even through my guilt, I thought nothing about my girlfriend Claire, I'd never really liked her after I saw how bitchy she was being towards Viola. I looked at her bump once again before looking up and saying "I'm sorry Vi, I really really don't know what to say right now, I'm just completely overwhelmed, it's all a bit too much right now." I couldn't think of anything else to say. I didn't want to promise her support like my Dad had as I didn't know if I could give it to her, however, I didn't want to tell her I wanted nothing to do with the baby either as I really had no idea quite how I felt about the whole thing.

I then noticed Al. He too had bags under his eyes, causing a fresh wave of guilt to pass through me. Dad was right, I was a horrible brother for doing this to Al and then not even noticing how upset he must have been since he somehow found out about Viola's pregnancy. "I'm sorry for punching you," I said, "and I'm sorry for sleeping with Vi when I knew that you fancied her, but I just want you to know that I didn't do it intentionally just to hurt you." I tried my best but I knew it hadn't worked as Al continued to ignore me.

I'd had enough. I couldn't stand the whole thing any longer so I stormed out of the room, ignoring my parents' calls. I ran to the common room and burst into my empty dormitory, closing the door on the stares and the whispers of the crowds of students who had been in the common room. However, I still heard people calling things out to me such as "prat", "what an arsehole", "I bet he didn't even use a condom" and "what's your Dad going to say, eh?". I couldn't hold my emotions in anymore as I flunked onto my bed and began to sob like I'd never sobbed before. I couldn't have a kid of me own, not now! How was I supposed to support Viola? What would the press say? How would I ever win back Al's trust? When would everyone stop hating me for what I had done? Would my parents and Lily forgive me for being such an idiot? How could I explain it to Claire without being killed? And how on earth could I bring up a child to be happy when I was in such circumstances as this. I wanted to be a good father but I also didn't know if I wanted to even be a father at all. 'Why was it always me who had to ruin everybody's lives?'


	9. Chapter 9: Realisation

***Back to Viola's POV***

Suddenly, and without warning, James stormed out of the room. His parents then followed suit, as did Al, but he appeared to go in the opposite direction of his parents and James when he left the office solemnly. For a while the room was silent. No-one knew what to say and the stillness was only broken when Professor McGonagall finally spoke again: "Scorpius, would you mind leaving Viola and I alone to talk?" she said quietly. Scorpius nodded and proceeded to leave, saying that he'd wait for me outside. As the door closed behind him I couldn't help but feel scared and yet relieved; a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but now my father hated me. Professor McGonagall sat down opposite me behind her desk and looked at me for a moment before speaking once more.

"Miss Malfoy, I sincerely hope you understand the consequences that your actions have caused because we now have a pretty messy situation on our hands." She said sternly.

"Yes, I know. And I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen."

"No, no of course you didn't," she said, sighing, "Here, have a chocolate newt." She said, passing me a bowl of small lizard-shaped chocolates. Upon the first bite I felt immediately better as the warmth of the chocolate fused into my senses. I supposed that Professor McGonagall had given me the chocolate with the intention to perk me up a little. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her looking at me, examining the bags under my eyes and lack of makeup. I'd been having sleepless nights recently over how to tell James and my parents and just the baby in general. Life wasn't exactly fun.

"So, how long were you planning to keep this a secret from Mr Potter?" said McGonagall.

"Well actually, I wasn't really planning on keeping it a secret at all; I just couldn't ever find the right time nor pluck up the courage to tell him." I said wearily.

"Miss Malfoy, you do realise that the press are going to have a field day when this gets out?"

Oh merlin. I hadn't thought about that. I didn't want journalists following me everywhere and printing pictures of my baby in the Daily Prophet! "Er… yeah, of course." I said, trying to act as if I'd given it some thought.

"Hmm," she replied suspiciously," Well anyway, it is pretty much inevitable that the press are going to try to make you into the 'bad guy', but I must insist that you don't let it get to you. As the headmistress, I will do my best to help you during these difficult times Miss Malfoy, but I urge you to think wisely about any decisions you make about this baby's future."

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"Well, if Mr Potter decides that he wants to support his child, then let him. But if he doesn't, then just remember that there is no need to disallow your child from seeing him just because you don't want to."

I thought for a moment. Of course I was going to act within the baby's best interests, but what if James really did decided not to support me? It's exactly great for a child to grow up with a father, but then again it's not really that much better if they just get occasional visits from him. But at least the baby would have its mother. And its uncle, Scorpius. Maybe even Al and Lily if they were feeling up to it.

"Of course, Professor." I replied quietly.

"Before you go, have you had any check-ups or scans?"

"Er, yes. I had a scan a couple of months ago. I think I'm due another in about a month's time."

"Okay, well you can always arrange one with Madam Pomfrey; I will alert her and the other teachers of your situation. They were always going to find out from idle gossip anyway, Miss Malfoy." She added, seeing my look of horror.

…

As I left her office I bumped into Scorpius who was leaning against a wall, thinking deeply from the looks of it. His head abruptly turned when I walked out of McGonagall's office.

"Hey, Vi." He said morosely.

"Hey. Thanks for waiting," I replied, "I'm so sorry you had to get caught up in the middle of this, I would understand if you decided to take Dad's side on this one." I said, although without really meaning it.

"What? Are you serious? Why the hell would I take Dad's side? Listen Vi, I'm here for you, okay? Even if James isn't."

"He never said that."

"Yeah but… look Vi, I know how a bloke's mind works, especially with a bloke like James. I can bet you that he is going to try to ignore you as much as possible as he probably doesn't know what the hell to do right now. He's going to be torn between supporting this baby and ignoring its existence and I can almost guarantee that he's not going to find it easy to make that decision. I mean, he's grown up with a large family, he's going to want to look after his kid but also, as he's a teenage boy, he's going to want to have independence from his family for once.

…

Scorpius was right. James had decided to completely ignore me. I first noticed it after I woke up the next morning having gone to bed early, ignoring all the pitying stares and malicious glares of fellow Slytherins as I made my way to the dormitory. I got up pretty early as I didn't want to have to face my dorm-mates and Joanna and Becca. I also didn't want to have to sleep in any longer as I'd been having nightmares all night where my Dad had thrown me out onto the streets and told me I had to live with Voldemort (a scary although interesting plot twist I guess). I walked up to the Great Hall and only saw a few people there; one of which was James who had obviously had the same idea to go to breakfast early and avoid everyone. I noticed him trying to subtly watch me as I sat down. Thankfully there were only two other people at the Slytherin table, and they were first-years so I knew they weren't going to give me any hassle.

I quickly finished my toast with jam and marmalade (it was a weird craving I had been having) and left to go to Transfiguration; my first lesson. I sat waiting in the classroom for about an hour, but I didn't mind as I deliberately wanted to avoid the rush of pupils going form breakfast to their first lessons. As the class filed into the room I could hear many whispers, but I just tried to ignore them. Finally, Becca and Joanna arrived and sat on either side of me.

"Vi… is it true?" asked Becca, whispering so that only Joanna and I could hear.

"Erm, yeah?" I said, scared of what they'd think of me, but instead of chastising me, I suddenly received a rather unexpected hug from them both.

"Oh Vi. How ever did you get yourself into such a pickle?" said Joanna with a feeble smile on her face.

"I.. I don't know. It just happened… Lily's party…" I muttered, trying to hold back tears.

"But why didn't you tell us sooner? We could have helped you, Vi." Said Becca.

"I guess I just didn't know how." There was a short pause before Becca spoke again:

"Is it true about James and Al too?"

"What? That Al supposedly loves me and that James is this baby's dad?"

"Well… yeah." Replied Becca hesitantly.

"It's true." I replied drearily

"Oh dear, this is a messy situation…" said Joanna before being interrupted by Professor McGonagall's arrival into the lesson.

"You think I don't know that already?" I whispered back.

…

It was amazing to know that Becca and Joanna weren't mad at me. They'd promised to help me with whatever would happen which gave me a massive sense of relief. However, not everything that day went okay. My last lesson was Potions. With James. Oh merlin, kill me now.

I walked into the Potions classroom to find only a few other people there. I received the odd stare here and there but throughout the day I had gotten used to it and, even though I hated it, I had brought it upon myself. People slowly started drifting into the classroom until finally James arrived looking tired and worn out; his hair had lost its shine and his eyes looked glassy. I knew that he had been having a tough day too; I'd seen people shouting abuse at him during lunch and I'd also heard that he had broken up with his girlfriend, Claire. I almost felt sorry for him, but I had to remind myself that I was in a very similar situation.

He walked to the chair next to me and slumped down awkwardly, looking at the floor. Many people in the class were staring at us and exchanging whispers until Professor Slughorn finally gave out instructions for a new Potion; an Ageing Potion. James and I silently set to work on it for the first ten minutes of the lesson until James finally spoke:

"My uncles once made one of these in their sixth year." He said awkwardly, obviously trying to diffuse the tension.

"Oh right. Did they do Potions?" I asked, although not really all that interested.

"I don't know, but they made it so they could enter the Triwizard Tournament. Didn't work of course, but it was worth a try."

"Hmm." I murmured, not knowing what else to say. There was another awkward silence as James tried not only to avoid my eye contact but also Claire's (she was sitting two rows in front) until he spoke again, but this time very quietly:

"Viola?"

"Yes James?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I froze. I was totally not expecting that. I didn't want to have to talk about this now, not here!

"I… I didn't know how." I said weakly.

"You didn't know how? He asked condescendingly.

"James, you've got to understand that I was scared to death of not only what you'd say but also what my family would say too!"

"Well then why did you tell Al?" he asked, looking genuinely hurt and confused, but I could tell he was trying to hide it.

"I didn't." I said truthfully.

"Yes you did, he told me!"

"No James, he figured it out for himself." I replied straightly.

"What do you mean?"

"He saw a photo from my scan and realised what it meant."

"He re- wait, you had a scan?"

"Yeah, a couple of months ago."

"Oh," he said, it was hard to read his facial expressions, "Do you still have the photo?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"Er, yeah." I said, pulling it out from my inner robe pocket. I handed it over to him and he looked at is with an amazed but slightly scared expression on his face.

"Oh wow," he said, gaping, "So it's okay then? There's nothing wrong, right?" he inquired.

"Nope, everything's fine so far." James smiled slightly before handing the photo back to me.

"Look Vi, there's something I need to get off my chest." He said after a pause.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm really _really_ scared, Vi, and I don't know if I can do this." He said, looking sad.

"Look James, we're both in the same situation here. I'm scared out of my mind right now, I'm the one carrying this baby, remember? I know you're shocked and worried but please, please don't make any hasty decisions which you might forget, for the baby's sake." He looked at me oddly before turning back to the Potion and remaining silent for the rest of the lesson. I didn't know what else to say to him. I wanted him to stay and support the baby but I also didn't want to feel as if I was tying him down against his wishes.

At the end of the lesson, just as we were leaving the classroom, Claire, who was smirking, handed James a copy of the Daily Prophet before walking off. I saw James go white as he read the paper's headline so I peered over to have a look:

_'ELDEST POTTER BOY GETS FELLOW HOGWARTS STUDENT AND FAMILY RIVAL PREGNANT AT 17' _

The first couple of lines read:

_James Potter, 17, the eldest child of the famous Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, has brought shame upon his family today as it was revealed that he is having a baby with Viola Malfoy, also 17, the daughter of Harry Potter's biggest school enemy, Draco Malfoy. It is known that they are not in a relationship and that Miss Malfoy is actually the love-interest of Potter's younger brother, Albus,16._

"Oh merlin. How did they find out?" I said, eyeing James, who looked like he was going to be sick.

"I don't know." He said, looking incredibly pale before walking brusquely out of the dungeons. I suddenly felt tears forming in my eyes as I stood alone in that corridor. The fact that we'd made front-page news scared the life out of me. And then my thoughts reverted back to my Dad. Would I ever be allowed home again? Would he even want to see me anymore? Although he has many faults, I did love him and it hurt so much that he had abandoned me like that yesterday and that he hadn't even bothered to comfort me. I felt the same hurt when I thought of Mum. She hadn't even made the effort to stand up to my Dad. She couldn't even stand up for me, her own daughter in her time of need. I couldn't stand it anymore. I leaned against a wall, banging my fists on his as I slid down into a ball, sobbing. Everything seemed so much more real now that people knew about the baby and it scared me, scared me beyond belief. I was still technically a kid myself, how could I look after my own, especially when my support network was so far incredibly limited. I continued to cry, wishing the pain and worries would go away, but they didn't.

**A/N: Sorry this is a bit a of a 'filler chapter', but I wanted to give the characters a bit of a rest after the last couple of chapters! :)**


	10. Chapter 10: Getting Better

***Al's POV***

Ever since I'd been sorted into Slytherin, James and I had grown further and further apart. I don't know why, but for some reason we seemed to become interested in different things and we turned into completely different people, despite the similarities in our appearances. However, The Easter holidays in my fifth year had been different. James had started to mature slightly and we got on better, I even told him my biggest secret, one that I had been too embarrassed to mention before. You see, throughout my fourth and fifth years, I began to develop a crush on my best friend Scorpius' sister, Viola, yet again highlighting how similar my father and I can be as he also fell for his best friend's sister; my mother. But after a while, that crush became deeper. I couldn't get Viola out of my head; I wanted to care for her, kiss her, cuddle her, take her out on romantic walks and spill all my secrets to her. I told James as he himself had told me about a small crush he had on a girl called Claire Summers and I felt that if I contained my secret for any longer then I would explode. James seemed surprised at first but he seemed to understand what I saw in her. I even went on to tell Scorpius himself, but he wasn't surprised at all; I think he'd noticed my prolonged stares into his sister's beautiful pale blue eyes.

I'd been spending quite a lot of time with Viola as she and Scorpius tended to frequently hang out together at Hogwarts and of course whenever she came over to our house to tutor Lily with her Potions. I loved talking to her and finding out her interests; she was such a nice, friendly girl considering the family she came from. I desperately wanted to tell her how I felt but I could never find the right time so I decided to do it at Lily's birthday party as Viola was invited. That night I got dressed up in my best clothes; a black jacket and trousers with a thin, sleek black tie over a crisp white shirt. I also tried endlessly to tame the messy hair which I'd unfortunately inherited from my father, but it wouldn't work. I then put on my glasses and made my way downstairs where the party had already started. The entire ground floor of the house was alive with chatter, food, drinks and fairy lights. Then I noticed her; her hair was a long, shiny pale blonde and she was wearing a beautiful blue dress to match her eyes. I began to walk towards her, desperately flattening my hair, when suddenly I was beaten by James who had walked right up to her and started a conversation. My stomach sank and I turned away to go into the kitchen. Of course James had to get there first. He was always the most popular, most confident person. Why the hell did I ever think I had a chance with Viola? She was pretty, smart, well-liked and generally a lovely person; why would she want to go out with me, a scrawny, shy first-year whose only real friend was her own brother?

I spent the rest of the night sulking in the kitchen where there were only a few people; all of whom were thankfully too drunk to notice me sitting there on my own. I'd never wanted to drink as I'd never seen the point in it; why would you voluntarily choose to waste money by poisoning your body and consequently ending up in many embarrassing and dangerous situations that always ended with you throwing-up in some drain somewhere?

…

I should have known that something would have happened between James and Viola that night; it was inevitable yet it still hurt so much to think about it. I remember sitting in a carriage on the Hogwarts Express and seeing a solemn-looking Viola making her way into the compartment. I couldn't help but notice how she seemed overly-tired but I turned a blind eye towards it. And, of course, I remember when I suddenly saw her apparate into the grounds just outside the Hogwarts gate. We got into an argument when I noticed something had dropped from her pocket; a photo. But not just any photo; it was a baby photo, from a muggle ultrasound machine. As soon as I saw it I felt like a ten tonne weight had been dropped in my stomach and my head started spinning as I realised that it could only mean one thing; Viola was pregnant. I wanted to vomit. It couldn't be true, how could lovely, innocent Viola be pregnant? It was even worse when she told me it was _his_. I suddenly felt the urge to kill my brother as anger, jealousy and frustration burst through me. How could he do this to her? He knew that I loved her and yet he slept with her! But then, as always, I had to mess everything up by blurting out in front of crowds of students and Viola herself that I loved her. I also happened to tell _him_ about the baby. Viola's baby. I couldn't stand the thought so I let out all my anger on _him_. We carried on our fight in the castle until Professor McGonagall caught us and consequently made him tell her what was going on. Then my parents and Viola's parents found out of course. It was horrible. I think Dad could tell that I loved Viola somewhat and therefore he was deeply disappointed in him. I decided to remain silent throughout the whole thing, too angry and embarrassed to say anything.

The meeting ended when he ran out and I decided to leave too; I didn't want to have to explain myself to Viola so I quickly went back to my dorm. In the common room I received a tirade of questions about him, but I just ignored them and went straight to bed. I couldn't deal with the whole situation. If that baby should have been anyone's, it should have been mine; not that I particularly wanted to be a teenage dad but I knew I'd make a damn better father than _him_. What if he decided not to support Viola? Would she let me step in instead? I was confused and frustrated so I decided to just try and get to sleep.

…

The next day, the news had unfortunately spread around school. People shot looks of pity at me in the corridors and I hated it; I didn't need their sympathy, for merlin's sake! I spent the majority of the day avoiding everyone, my only company being Scorpius who looked almost as tired as Viola:

"Listen Al, I'm sorry about all this."

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"Yeah I know, but I know how you must be feeling at the moment."

"No you don't."

"Honestly Al, can't you just try and let someone empathise with you for one in your life?!"

"Sorry, it's just…"

"Yeah, I know," he said awkwardly, "but I think you should know that Viola never meant for any of this to happen, she was drunk and well…_y'know_."

"Yeah, I realise that. It's not her that I'm angry at, it's him."

"Well of course you are, I mean, you have every right to be, but try not to give him a hard time about it; the rest of the school has already sought to do that."

"But Scorp, he knew that I loved her and still do! And now she's having to become a teenage mother and look after a kid at seventeen all because of him! It's all his fault!" I exclaimed angrily.

"Look Al, I know you see Viola as being completely innocent in all this but she's really not. Part of her wanted to sleep with James that night. She's always had a small crush on him."

"What?" I said, nonplussed.

"Didn't you know? She's always had a little soft-spot for him, although, mind you, I doubt she does anymore." I was in shock. Was it true, had I actually missed this? Surely if she had fancied him then I would have noticed? However, my thoughts were soon distracted by a clatter at the table as the ever-clumsy Ciaran Finnigan sat down on our desk and slammed down a copy of The Daily Prophet. Ciaran was a friend of mine however we'd never gotten too close as we were in different houses so didn't spend so much time together.

"Albus!" he exclaimed, "have you seen this?"

"What?" I asked, confused."

"Rita Skeeter's been invading everyone's personal lives without knowing sufficient information again!" he said angrily. I looked at the paper and groaned as I read the headline and the first few sentences, which was enough to know that carrying on reading the article would have been a waste of time due to the lies it probably contained.

"Oh merlin." I said, my heart sinking. I hated how everyone in the wizarding world was now going to think that Viola was some sort of slut. I also hated how the article mentioned me, how had Skeeter even known all this information anyway?

I was relieved when the lesson was finally over and we could leave. I immediately left and made my way to my dormitory. I saw Lily on the way and she asked me how I was:

"Hey Al. How are you?"

"Not great." I replied in a bored manner.

"I heard about the baby."

"Oh did you?" I asked, trying to act surprised.

"Look Al, I've already given James a good earful for you." She said, half-smiling.

"Thanks Lil, I always knew I could rely on you to improve a situation." I said jokingly, my face feeling quite stiff as I smiled.

"So, a niece or nephew, how about it eh?" she said.

"Mmm," I replied sombrely, "Look, I've got a lot of work to do, I'll see you later." I said before walking back on the route to my original destination.

However, I was interrupted again when I walked into the potions corridor to find it empty except for one person; Viola. She was sitting with her head in her knees, crying. My heart panged as I resisted the urge to go up and hug her. She soon noticed me as I walked up to her.

"Al?" she said in between tears.

"Hey Viola, rough day?"

"Yeah." She said, sniffing. There was an awkward silence for a minute before she spoke again, "Al, I'm so sorry about this. I had no idea that you… love me." She said, trying to hold back her tears.

"It's alright, I mean, I had no idea that you fancied my brother."

"How did you..?"

"Scorp told me."

"Oh," she said, wiping her eyes on the arm of her robe. "Well I don't anymore, incase you were wondering."

"Not really, I kind of guessed that you wouldn't after all this."

"I guess." She muttered.

"Vi, has James decided what he wants to do yet?" I asked.

"I don't know, he doesn't seem to know what he wants to do." She said, before bursting out crying again. It was horrible to see her in such a vulnerable state that I automatically hugged her to try and calm her down. "What if he doesn't want anything to do with it?" she blubbered, sniffing maniacally.

"I'm sure he will, but if he doesn't then you've always got me." I said hopefully.

"Yeah I know, but I want my child to have father." She murmured.

"And if James doesn't step up, then I can be just that."

"What, you'd help me with this kid even though it isn't yours?"

"Well of course! My whole family will help and besides, I'm still related to this child, it'll probably even look somewhat like me considering the fact that James and I look so alike anyway." I said.

"Thanks, Al." she said, before getting up and pulling me up too, "Al, you know how I'll be six months gone next month? Well I've got to have a scan again and I hate going alone and-"

"Of course I'll come Vi." I said softly.

"Thanks Al." she said, smiling in relief.

"It's alright." I said as we walked into the deserted common room.

"I'll see you at dinner, okay?" she said.

"Sure." I said before suddenly being caught by surprise; Viola kissed me on the cheek. I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline race through me and my heart skipped a beat. I must have gone bright red as Viola chuckled to herself before ascending the staircase to her dorm. How could something as good as that come out of such a messed up situation as this? I wondered as I made my way up to my own empty dormitory. As I walked to my bed I noticed my owl, Moony, was perched on my bedside windowsill with a letter in his beak, waiting to be let in. I opened the window and suddenly he swooped around the dorm before dropping the letter on my bed and looking up at me expectantly. I opened it to read the familiar handwriting of my God-brother, Teddy, who I considered to be my real brother:

_Albus,  
How are you? Harry told me about the whole situation with James and Draco Malfoy's daughter. I hope you're alright; I can imagine how hard it must be for you right now. I just wanted to owl you to let you know that I'm her for you and your brother, even though I can guess that you're probably not getting on very well at the moment. However, you know as well as I do that James isn't really a bad person and I urge you not to try prevent him from getting close to Viola, however hard that may be. He needs support right now and the only other person at Hogwarts who can give that to him apart from yourself is Lily and, to be honest, I don't really think she's the right person for it, however hard she tries to be sympathetic and supportive, if you know what I mean. Anyway, stay strong and try not to let everything get to you,  
Love from,  
Teddy  
xx_

As I read the letter I couldn't help but feel relieved at Teddy's supportive words. I appreciated how he had taken time out of his busy work schedule to write to me. Even though I knew that he'd probably also written to James, I didn't really care; Teddy understood me and that was all that mattered. He'd also given me useful advice; something which I had been longing for after my parents left Professor McGonagall's office so swiftly, robbing me of a chance to speak to them properly. I couldn't help but feel that I would appreciate dinner more than ever that night, it was the first time that I had felt remotely happy in over a month; Teddy supported me and Viola trusted me and despite everything, it was the best day I'd had since I found about the baby.


	11. Chapter 11: Trouble

*Back to Viola's POV*

The next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend and for the first time since my third-year I was actually looking forward to it. Al had asked me whether I wanted to go to the village with him at dinner the previous week after he caught me crying in the corridor. At first I said yes because I felt bad for him and because he'd comforted me but over the past week I'd grown rather fond of him and we were now spending more time together than ever before. However, this did have its down sides; for one, people were now giving me dirty looks not just for being pregnant but also for supposedly 'excluding' the baby's father. It wasn't my fault that he'd been ignoring me again since the press found out about the pregnancy. If he didn't want to take responsibility for his actions then so be it; the baby would probably be better off without him at this rate.

Al and I had arranged to meet at the Hogsmeade Post Office at 11 O'clock on Saturday morning so I got up early and began to get ready whilst eating some toast that Joanna had brought me from the Great Hall. It was so depressing to put on my favourite top and realise that it was now far too small. I tried an expansion charm on it only lasted for a few minutes. Finally I decided to pick out something new; a maternity dress which Becca had bought me: it was nice and comfortable but also stylish and thankfully not stereotypically frumpy. I then put on my coat and set off out of the castle. However, as soon as I left the school grounds I was interrupted by a sudden tsunami of flashing lights and clicking noises. It took me a few seconds to process these unexpected sights and sounds before I finally realised that they were cameras. Oh merlin, the press must have been waiting to print pictures of me since the news of the baby was somehow leaked the previous week. Paparazzi were shouting questions at me from all directions but I knew better than to say anything which could have been taken out of context so I just replied with "no comment". This must have been what it was like for James, Al and Lily all their lives, yet James seemed not to mind the madness of it all and neither did Lily. Al, however, hated it. I'd seen many a picture of him and his siblings in the Daily Prophet and, contrary to the rest of his family (apart from his father in the odd photo), he never seemed to be smiling.

I eventually managed to push past all the cameras and walk brusquely to Hogsmeade. I received a plethora of glares and whispers in my direction from several shoppers and shop-keepers but I'd gotten so used to it that I barely even noticed it. When I reached the post office, I saw Al perched on a small rock stroking a snowy owl whom I assumed to be his own judging by the playful manner in which he was petting it.

"Hey Al, is that owl yours?" I asked interestedly.

"Oh, hey Viola!" he said pleasantly, "And yeah, he's mine; a present from my Dad when I turned eleven- his name's Moony."

"Aw, that's cute, hey Moony!" I said, stroking Moony's smooth feathers as I sat down.

"So, Vi, what do you fancy doing?" asked Al.

"Erm… I don't know really, what about going to Madam Puddifoot's?" I suggested. For a split second Al's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose as if he was surprised at my suggestion.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" he said, grinning. I got the feeling that he'd secretly been hoping I'd say that, but I didn't mind; in fact I thought it was quite cute. I took a moment to appreciate his pretty adorable smile before getting up. His smile reminded me painfully of James and I suddenly felt a pang of guilt; was I really doing the right thing by my child by going out with its uncle and potentially substituting him for the kid's Dad? I didn't want to think about it so I decided that if James never had the chance to be this kid's Dad then it would ultimately be his fault for not yet acknowledging his responsibilities.

We walked to Madam Puddifoot's through a fresh gale of wind and finally arrived in the warm, cosy tea shop and sat ourselves down on a pair of squashy pink armchairs and ordered a couple of teas as we made ourselves comfortable. "So, Al, are you looking forward to Christmas?"

"Erm, yeah I guess so, I mean I haven't really thought about it much to be honest with you."

"Oh right, but have you asked for anything at all from your parents?"

"Yeah, I asked them for a new broomstick as my Orbit 360 is almost at breaking point. What about you?"Al said. Suddenly, his face fell as he realised that he had mentioned my parents. I wasn't angry at him for doing so but I hated the feeling of being hit in the stomach whenever I thought of my Mum and Dad. "Oh merlin, I'm sorry Vi, I didn't mean to-"

"-No, Al, it's fine- just leave it." There was a long silence after that which was filled by us unintentionally and simultaneously sipping our teas.

"Look Vi, I just want to say that I'm really sorry for what my brother did to you and I'm sorry that he's not doing anything about it either." said Al after a while with a meaningful look in his bright green eyes.

"But Al, it's not your fault, why are you apologising?"

"I don't know… I guess I just feel protective over you and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Aw Al! That's so sweet!" I exclaimed, genuinely touched, "But honestly, I'll be alright. Besides, now that it's all out in the open I'm starting to look forward to having this baby." I said truthfully.

"Seriously? Well… that's great!"

"Yeah well it's just that I don't really have anything to lose any more so I might as well just look forward to meeting my baby instead of worrying about it when nothing can be done anyway."

"Good point. So, what do you want; a boy or a girl?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know. I really wouldn't mind either way."

"Yeah same, I don't mind either."

"Wait, what? But Al, the baby-"

"-Isn't mine, yeah, yeah, but honestly Vi, I want to help you with this kid-"

"-Yes I know, but I just don't want you to feel obliged to look after this child just because its real father probably won't be around."

"But that's the thing- for me it's not an obligation; I want to help you with this baby Viola- I'd do anything for you!"

"But Al, I don't know if I could ever feel the same way towards you and it makes me feel like I'm trapping you, I mean, you're only sixteen!"

"So? I don't care, Vi, I love you and I'll love this baby if you could just give me a chance!" he whispered frantically so that people at the other table couldn't hear us. His offer was now extremely tempting and I could tell that Al meant what he was saying so I accepted his offer on the conditions that if James wanted to be involved then he'd let him."Seriously? So I can help you, yeah?" he asked, making sure that his ears hadn't been deceiving him.

"Yes, but only if you stick to what I said." Suddenly, I was taken aback as Al leant towards me and kissed me. On the lips; and oh my merlin it felt good! I knew that I liked Al but I never knew that receiving a kiss from him would send such a shockwave of butterflies through my stomach! I could feel myself blushing and I could see Al's face burning up; I don't think he'd been planning on kissing me.

"Well, shall we leave then, it's getting a bit stuffy in here, don't you think?" said Al nervously."Yeah, sure." I agreed. We then walked awkwardly out of the shop and into the blisteringly cold lane which ran through the village. "Bloody hell, it's even more freezing than before, let's get inside somewhere." said Al, his jaw already chattering. We clambered into the nearest building which was the thankfully-warm Three Broomsticks pub. "Tell you what Vi," said Al, who appeared to have forgotten his embarrassment from earlier, "Let's just stay here for a bit until the wind calms down a bit."

"Definitely." I replied, rubbing my hands. I went and found a table whilst Al fetched a couple of very welcoming butterbeers. We talked normally for around fifteen minutes, forgetting our awkward kiss, until I suddenly felt the urge to use the loo. However, as I was walking back from the toilets, I noticed a very familiar-looking figure sitting at a table towards the back-end of the pub. There was no mistaking that untameable black hair; it was James. However, he wasn't just sitting; he was drinking, but not just your standard butterbeer. He was surrounded by about four empty bottles of firewhisky and was currently consuming his fifth. I had no idea that he'd let his troubles get so out-of-hand."James?" I said quietly, trying not to alert Al's attention, "James, it's me, Viola."

"Vi? Wharra you doon here?" he said, slurring heavily."I just went to the loo, that's all."

"No you didn't, you're with my brurr, Albuuus." He said, dragging out Al's name.

"Er, James, I really think you've had enough to drink now; why don't you put that bottle down and just have some water."

"No! How can you esspect me ter stop when I've got so much shhhit in my life goin' on?" he slurred, " I mean, I can't look affer a kid, not when my brurr won't let me."

"James, if you want to be part of your child's life then you've got to man-up and do something about it rather than just ignoring the kid as if it doesn't exist or something."

"But I was gonna have a career as a famouuus qu-qu-quiddissh player."

"Yeah well sometimes things don't work out quite the way you want them to."

"But I juss wanna be norrrrmal… I've never been norrrrmal… I juss wanna be a norrrrmal teeeeenage boy without a kid."

"James, please don't say anything you'll regret- I promise you that when this baby is born, you're going to love it and your role as a father will come naturally as long as you act sensibly and don't let your jealousy get the better of you."

"What jealousy?" he asked, looking like a confused child, his head slumped in his hands.

"Well it's pretty obvious that you're jealous of your brother and that you don't want him to act like this kid's father instead of you." Suddenly, there was small noise as James' head hit the table; he'd passed out.

"Viola? Is that you? Are you okay?" I heard Al call from a slight distance. Suddenly he was by me as he caught sight of James."What-"

"Firewhisky." I replied bluntly.

"Oh blimey, get Madam Rosmerta. What was he doing here anyway?"

"Drowning his sorrows, I think." I replied as I went to get Madam Rosmerta who quickly whipped out a new phial of Pepper-Up potion and shoved the liquid into James' gaping mouth. Al's face displayed a mixture of anger and concern as Madam Rosmerta lifted James' limp body from the table.

"I think you'd better take him up to the Hospital Wing, Mr Potter." she said to Al.

"Oh great." Said Al sarcastically, hauling James up from under his armpits.

"Er, Al, don't you think it'd be easier just to use a levitation charm?" I suggested.

"Oh yeah." He mumbled as he lifted James up with his wand.

...

Al was reluctant to stay with James in the Hospital Wing so he sauntered off back to his dormitory after kissing me goodbye (we were both too pre-occupied with James so be embarrassed about kissing anymore). I, however, stayed as I decided I had nothing better to do. James woke up at around 6pm, immediately complaining of a headache. He didn't appear to remember what had happened as he kept questioning me on what was going on:"Viola? What're you doing in here?" he asked sleepily.

"Keeping an eye on you."

"Oh my God, that's just creepy! I knew you fancied me but… why come all the way up here? How did you get in here anyway?"

"Creepy? How? I was just making sure you were alright, and for the record I don't fancy you anymore. Also, anyone can come in here."

"No they can't!"

"Er, James, we're in the hospital wing." I said straightly.

"What?! I thought we were in my dorm!" he said, before fully opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings, "Wait… why am I in here anyway?"

"You don't remember?" I asked. James nodded so I continued, "You passed out."

"What? Why?"

"Firewhisky. You were drinking your fifth bottle when I found you."

"Oh. Sorry about that." He said worriedly.

"Hmm. Well anyway, Al and I had to haul you all the way from the Three Broomsticks!"

"Oh merlin, I'm sorry you had to see me like that… wait, what were you and Al doing in there?"

"Er, well… if you must know, we were on a date in Hogsmeade."

"Oh." said James, who had a strange look on his face.

"Well, I'd better be off then." I said, breaking the awkward pause.

"Okay… thanks, y'know, for helping me."

"It's alright." I replied before walking to leave. However, just before I could open the doors I turned back around to him, "James, you know that if you need to talk then I'm always here. You don't have to bottle-up your emotions all the time for the fear that people will think you're a woos or something and I really don't want you to let yourself get out of control or anything."

"Thanks." Said James before continuing to speak once more, "Vi, please don't shut me out. I don't want Al to replace my place in this kid's life, okay?" I considered his words for a moment; did he really care that much about Al and I?

"I'll try my best, James, but if you want to act like this child's father then you can't just rely on me to make it happen." I said before turning around once again and leaving.


	12. Chapter 12: Arrangements

Several weeks had passed since I had spoken to James in the Hospital Wing. Our shared Potions lessons were now more awkward than ever and, although I rarely spoke to him, I knew James wasn't in a good state. His clothes became steadily more dishevelled and I could often smell alcohol on his breath. However, seeing as I knew I could do nothing about it, I opted to do what James had been doing since September and ignore him. Instead, I focused all my time on schoolwork, seeing Al, chatting with Becca and Jo and sorting out Christmas arrangements. Never before had I dreaded Christmas so much; I didn't want to have to face my parents again after all the things my father said but I knew I had to, especially after the letter I received on one snowy, mid-December morning:

_Dear Viola,  
Sorry I haven't kept in contact with you since I last saw you but it took me a while to get over the shock of everything. I've seen various news articles about you and the Potter boys and I hope you're all right. Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, Christmas is fast approaching and I want you to know that you are still very much welcome at home, despite your father's reaction to your news. I might also add that I think it would be a good idea if you brought James around for a day so that we can get to know him better (even your father has agreed- albeit reluctantly- to this, if you can believe it!). Let me know if this is okay with you and I hope to see you soon,  
Love,  
Mum xxx_

It was a lot to take in but in my head I agreed with her; my parents really did need to get to know James properly and inviting him over was probably the best thing for it.  
"Who's it from, Vi?" asked Al, peering over whilst sipping from his morning orange juice.

"My mother." I said, slightly shocked.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Al, Scorpius, Jo and Becca simultaneously.

"What does she want?" asked Scorpius.

"Well, she's basically just saying that I'm still welcome at Christmas and that I-" I said, pausing.

"That you what?" inquired Becca.

"-That I invite James over at some point so my parents can get to know him better."

"Are you serious?" asked Al, looking surprised and perhaps even jealous.

"Unfortunately." I replied bluntly.

"Makes sense, though, I mean, Mum and Dad barely know James and he's going to be the father of their first grandchild." Said Scorpius thoughtfully.

"So? It's not like he's actually going to do anything about it!" exclaimed Al angrily.

"Al, please, James is having a rough time at the moment, just give him a , I can always have you over during the holidays at some point too." I said.

"No, it's fine. In fact, tell you what- why don't you come over to ours one day? Boxing day maybe? Then you can meet the family."

"Er, okay, but I'll have to ask my parents first." I replied to Al, who now looked much happier. I, however, was feeling rather intimidated by the prospect of meeting the whole Weasley/Potter clan; what would they think of me, especially after all the rubbish that the _Daily Prophet_ had been spurting out about me almost every day? Worried, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and continued to eat as the conversation turned to Quidditch and the current League champions; Puddlemere United and I began to pen a reply to my Mum:

_Dear Mum,  
Thanks for getting in contact with me, I can understand why you hadn't been sending me any letters but nevertheless it made me feel a little sad and I hope you aren't taking any of the Daily Prophet's articles about me seriously, as they're making most of their 'information' up. I'd be delighted to come home for Christmas and I'll invite James over, maybe on Christmas Eve? Also, would it be okay if I spent time with James' family on Boxing Day as Al invited me I'm sure they'd like to get to know me better too. I hope you and Dad are well,  
Love from,  
Viola xxx_

It was now the final weekend before we were due to break up for the Christmas holidays and excitement was in the air, as were several copious amounts of floating mistletoe. Professor McGonagall had given Al and I permission to leave the school grounds to have my sixth-month scan as Madam Pomfrey didn't have experience in pre-natal care. McGonagall was at first puzzled as to why I was taking Al rather than his brother, but I soon explained James' apparent lack of interest in my pregnancy.  
Al and I walked down to Hogsmeade on the briskly cold Saturday morning and he held out his wand in the street to summon the Knight Bus. We decided that in my pregnant state, it might be unsafe to travel by apparition, port keys or the floo network, nevermind broomsticks. The conductor was a tall and lanky middle-aged man with a small stubble and a strong cockney accent:

"Welcome to the-"

"Yes, yes, we know." I said snappily, in response to a gangly young man who I presumed was the conductor.

"Come on then, hop on! Where abouts are you looking to go?"

"St. Mungo's."

"Alright then, you'll be the third stop after Mrs Birch and Mr Walter." He said, directing us to a seat. He looked suspiciously at Al before saying, "You're that son of 'Harry Potter, you are!" he said excitedly.

"Erm, yes, yes I am." Said Al, rather taken aback.

"Cor, blimey, wait till my Mum hears about this- first Harry Potter himself and now his son!"

"When did my Dad come on here?" asked Al curiously, before we all suddenly jolted forwards as the bus sprang into life. It was a very violent ride but Al and the conductor still managed conversation somehow.

"Oh, well, quite a while, back you see. Back when 'e were still a lad. Small, scrawny fing, he was; you look a lot like him."

"Gee, thanks." Said Al sarcastically, remaining quiet for the rest of the journey. I guess being called small and scrawny isn't exactly a compliment. Our first stop was in a small village somewhere in Yorkshire, surrounded by the Dales and complete with several houses covered in limestone and a pub which appeared to be packed full of oblivious muggles watching a football match. Then, we were off again until we reached Mr Walter's stop; a large,rainy, industrial town in Lancashire which was overshadowed by a large Victorian mill.

Finally, we reached London and the disguised St Mungo's was soon in sight. We left the bus, thanking Stan and the driver, and proceeded to make our way into the hospital. As soon as we arrived at the reception desk, we were greeted with countless stares and scorns; we had been a hot-topic in the news recently so it came as no surprise.

Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long to be seen by our Healer and we walked into her room excitedly.

"Good morning, I'm Healer Grisham. You must be Miss Malfoy, and of course, Mr Potter! I must say, you look exactly like your father, Albus!" she said cheerily, disgruntling Al. "Now, Miss Malfoy, if you'd like to lie down on the bed for me then that would be fantastic." She said as I made myself semi-comfortable on the strange hospital bed.

Healer Grisham then cast a spell over my stomach, making it tingle slightly before an image suddenly materialised before my eyes. It was my baby; my child. It had grown so much since I had last seen it on that small, muggle screen just three months previously. I felt a fuzzy feeling as I heard the baby's heartbeat surround the room. Al looked at the image wide-mouthed in wonder before his mouth curled into a smile. It was all too much for my emotions and I suddenly burst into tears of joy. "Damn you, hormones!" I said jokily.

"Your baby seems to be perfectly healthy, Miss Malfoy" smiled Healer Grisham, "would you like to know its gender?"

I glanced over to Al who thought for a second before nodding and saying "Why not?!"

"Okay then, sure." I said excitedly.

"Congratulations, Miss Malfoy, it's a boy." She said happily. Suddenly a new wave of excitement ran through me. I was going to have a beautiful baby boy! I couldn't believe how real everything now seemed. Al looked happy too:

"I was kind of hoping it was a boy, actually." He said after we left the room.

"Really? How come?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know really, I guess I just feel that I can probably be more of a help to you with the baby being a boy. I mean, I don't know a thing about girls, but I'm an expert with boys, obviously."

"Good point. I just hope he doesn't turn out to have the same personality as James. Maybe if he spends lots of time with you then we can avoid that." I said concernedly. Don't get me wrong, James could be nice when he wanted to be, but I couldn't help but feel that he was a little immature.

"Yeah, I guess so." Said Al in response to me as he hailed for the Knight Bus again.

When we arrived back at Hogwarts at lunch time, Scorpius, Jo and Becca were all buzzing to hear how the scan went. Al and I walked over to the Slytherin table and showed them a picture we'd gotten from the scan.

"Oh wow, that's incredible, guys!" said Scorpius, "I'm going to be an uncle! This is so exciting!" he said. His girlfriend, Rose, who was sitting next to him (even though she's in Gryffindor) seemed equally as excited.

"Hey Scorp, do you know what this means?" she asked him.

"That I'm going to be an uncle?" he said nonplussed.

"No, silly, we're going to be practically related!"

"What? How?"

"Well, this baby's dad is James who is my cousin and this baby's mum is obviously Vi who's your sister, so we're kind of going to be related!" she said, looking strangely happy.

Scorpius shrugged and continued looking at the picture.

"Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, it's a boy." I said joyfully.

"Seriously?! That's great, Vi!" said Scorpius, "Now I can be a cool uncle and take my nephew out to dinosaur exhibitions and stuff!" he said excitedly.

"Hmm, we'll see about that." I said. Suddenly, I noticed someone approaching the Slytherin table- James.

"What do you want?" asked Al maliciously.

"Well, I heard that you had your latest scan today Vi, and I just wanted to make sure that everything's all right."

"Oh… well thanks for asking. And the baby's still fine. It's a boy by the way."

"Really?! That's brilliant!" he said, smiling for what seemed like the first time in weeks.

"Yeah, here's a picture, see?" I said, passing him another copy of the photograph.

"Blimey, wow." He said, before passing the picture back to me, "That's amazing." He said, looking dazed.

"Oh and by the way, would you like to come over to my house on Christmas Eve for dinner or something as my parents would like to get to know you better. Also bearing in mind the fact that Al has invited me to spend time with your family on Boxing Day."

"Oh has he? Well then, okay, sure. Let me know what time." He said, looking slightly annoyed with Al but also apprehensive; but I wasn't surprised considering how my father had treated him. James then left to return to the Gryffindor table, taking Rose with him.

"You never know, Vi, perhaps he will get his act together for this kid." Said Becca, receiving a look from Al for her words. Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong; who was I to judge- it was up to James after all.

The beginning of Stan Shunpike's speech is from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', page 463 by J.K. Rowling.


	13. Chapter 13: Christmas

The Christmas holidays had finally arrived with a blanket of smooth white snow which had spread all over Hogwarts. Looking at the cosy castle with its glistening lights illuminating the icy grounds almost made me want to stay over the holidays, but still; I was rather looking forward to having a break from the immense amounts of schoolwork which I'd been receiving over the previous term. Mum and Dad were at Platform 9¾ to meet us when we got off the Hogwarts Express so we both walked up to them rather nervously.

"Scorpius! Viola, darling! How good to see you both; I've missed you too so much!"  
"Missed you too, Mum," Scorpius and I both mumbled whilst Dad remained slightly behind Mum, trying to avoid any eye contact.  
"Goodness, Viola! We only saw you a month ago and yet you're so much bigger!"  
"Hmm, thanks," I replied sarcastically.

Scorpius and I eventually said "hello" to Dad but only Scorpius received a hug. After that, we were left to platform to go home (I'd already said my goodbyes to Al when I got off the train). Out of the corner of eye I could see Scorpius subtly wink at Rose as a secret farewell; Mum, Dad and Rose's parents still didn't know about the couple as it would probably just create even more arguments between our families due to Rose's Dad's distaste for my Dad and vice versa.

The first couple of days of the holiday were spent doing frantic shopping and hurriedly preparing decorations and whatnot. I could really have used a house-elf but Dad no longer owned one. I decided that Christmas was the best opportunity to go shopping for the baby as I'd be having it before I would next come home; therefore, Mum and I went out to a muggle shopping centre on the 23rd as we knew the _Daily Prophet_ and_Witch Weekly_ couldn't follow us there. We ended up buying multiple baby clothes including cute little socks, adorable onesies and tiny hats to keep his head warm. We also purchased a pram, cot, bedding and things for the baby's bedroom (i.e. curtains, paint, stuffed animals, pictures and some toys) so it was all in all a successful shopping trip.

As soon as we returned home, I got to work on the bedroom, which was currently empty and unused. Although the baby wouldn't be sleeping in there until it was a few months old, I decided it'd be more practical to do it at that moment rather than when I'd have a baby to deal with as well. With some difficult wand-work, I managed to paint the walls a baby blue colour and hang the curtains (a dark blue with silver stars) and some pictures. It looked immediately better as, before it had been decorated, it had been a dull grey colour to fit in with parts of the rest of the house. Once I'd put in the white cot, white wardrobe (containing the baby clothes) and a light fitting, I happily looked back at my hard work- it was perfect.

On the morning of the 24th, I got up at ten in the morning and got ready for James to come over; he was supposed to be arriving at twelve for lunch. I showered, ate breakfast, got dressed into a red silky blouse and a pair of black leggings- not too formal but not too casual. Mum and Dad, however, were dressed much more seriously than I was; Dad wore a shirt with a tie and some black trousers whilst Mum wore a cold green cocktail dress, making her look even more pale than usual. You can imagine the sort of response that Scorpius got when he traipsed downstairs at eleven thirty wearing a t-shirt and jeans; needless to say, Mum made him get changed into a shirt and trousers and was now combing his hair.

"Mum, this is pointless; James and I have known each other for six years- It's not like I need to make a good impression!"

"Just be quiet Scorpius. Besides, that so-called 'fashionable' hairstyle of yours doesn't suit you at all," replied Mum bluntly. I could tell she was getting anxious as she was rather aggressively tugging at Scorp's hair when she really didn't need to. However, I could understand how she was feeling as I was also becoming increasingly nervous; it was already 12:20 and James still hadn't arrived. Therefore, when he finally arrived half-an-hour late, I could tell my Dad was internally judging him.

"Sorry I'm late, my Uncle Ron had to drive me here and there was loads of traffic," he said, looking quite nervous. I could feel my Dad's hand (which was on my shoulder) clench as James said this. He was wearing a maroon shirt and dark jeans, and, to my surprise, he was carrying a small bunch of red and green flowers. "Thought they'd match the holiday spirit, y'know, what with red and green being Christmassy colours. I'd just like to say that I'm really sorry about… well, everything and I hope that we can move on and looks towards the future?" said James apprehensively, handing the flowers to my Mum, who smiled.

"Thank you, James, that is very much appreciated," she said, nudging Dad.

"Oh, er… yeah, thanks," Dad mumbled reluctantly.

"Well, do come inside! Lunch is ready, I trust you like roasted ham, James?"

"Oh yes, it's one of my favourites, Mrs Malfoy!" he said rather over-enthusiastically. I knew that James liked eating but I never knew he was that keen about food. We all made our way to the dining room where I was just about to sit down when James pulled a chair out for me. I couldn't help but feel a flutter in my stomach; he was obviously trying to make a good impression, especially after his late arrival. He sat down next to me and Mum and Dad sat opposite to us, leaving Scorpius sitting at the end of the table awkwardly.

"Draco, darling, would you like to serve the ham?" asked Mum.

"Er, yes dear," replied my Dad, who had obviously been too focused on watching James like a hawk to notice us waiting for him to start cutting the joint up. He served himself first, then Mum, Scorpius, me and finally James, who seemed to receive the smallest slice. Then came the gravy, then the apple sauce, then the roasted carrots, broccoli and parsnips and finally the drinks. Once we had all piled ou plates up with what we wanted, the time for conversation (i.e. interrogation by my annoying nosy parents) had come.

"So James, I hear you have some siblings?" asked Mum. It was a stupid question, really, ad James's family usually had at least one column on them every day in the _Daily Prophet._

"Yeah, well, there's Lily who's three years younger than me and Albus who's only in the year below," said James, his face hardening when he said Al's name. Dad seemed to mutter something under his breath but I couldn't hear it.

"Oh, how lovely," said my Mother falsely- she read the Daily Prophet constantly so had obviously read some of the bogus stories written about my relationship with Al. "So, I understand that Viola tends to spend more time with your brother rather than yourself?" she said, making me angry for putting James in an uncomfortable position.

"Er…" he stumbled, glancing at me, "well, they are in the same house and Scorp is best friends with him so I guess it's kind of inevitable," he said, trying to sound innocent.

"Is that so?" asked Dad, finally speaking whilst suddenly glaring at Scorpius.  
"Er, is what so, Mr Malfoy?"

"About Scorpius and your brother?" he said, trying to hide his evident anger.

Meanwhile, Scorpius was sinking lower and lower in his chair, clutching a honey-roasted parsnip.

"Well, yeah, they've been friends since first year, did he not…?" said James, breaking off when he saw Dad looking at Scorpius.

Mum was desperately trying to steer away the conversation, not wanting an argument to break out, "So anyway, what are your plans for the future, James?" she asked.

"Well, I hope one day to become a professional Quidditch player, as a chaser; it's the only thing I'm really passionate about," Dad was now looking back at James attentively. I knew Dad had played Quidditch at school but I couldn't tell whether he really approved of it as a career choice.

"So you're on the house team then?" he asked.

"Yeah, have been since first year,"

"I was on my house team too- I played seeker," James, who obviously didn't know how best to reply to this just said:

"Oh right, yeah I think my Dad might have mentioned a few games he played against you," Oh dear. As if the mention of Ron Weasley earlier hadn't been bad enough, but now James was talking about the person Dad hated the most, who had evidently told James about the many times he had defeated my Dad at Quidditch.

"I see he still remembers, then," said Dad through clenched teeth.

"So James," interrupted my mother again, "Are you planning to get a job when you leave school?"

"Well, actually, I was thinking about going straight into the whole Quidditch thing, actually,"

"So I'm guessing it will be a part-time job then?" said Mum, frowning disapprovingly.

"Er, no, Quidditch is a full-time job,"

"But then, how are you going to be able to be there for the baby?" said my mother, eyeing James like a cat about to pounce. Scorpius was once again looking uncomfortable but, for the first time that day, Dad seemed to be finding the conversation entertaining.

"Um, well…" James stuttered uncomfortably, looking to me for support.

"He's going to visit in the holidays, aren't you James?" I interjected. James nodded frantically, trying to redeem himself.

"James, you do realise that babies are full-time jobs; if you weren't ready to look after one then maybe you should have thought twice about whether you were ready to sleep with my daughter!" said Mum loudly through clenched teeth. James shuffled very uncomfortably in his chair.

"Mum, please, James having a career will be good in the long-run, and besides, his brother will help me."

"What?" said Scorpius suddenly. I could tell that he didn't quite realise how much more involved Al was with the baby than James.

"Well, Al is the baby's uncle, Scorp."

"So am I!" he said defensively.

"Yeah, I know and you can help too, even Lily can if she wants to. My point is that I'm not alone; even if James is going to be away for a lot of the time," James seemed to be thinking hard about everything that had been said whilst Mum and Dad appeared to be both sceptical and accepting.

"And how do you feel about this?" said Dad, looking at James. Dad being the only actual father in the room, was the only one who knew what it felt like to be in the position James would be in after the birth.

"Erm, well… to be honest we haven't really talked about it," he replied coldly, not looking at me. I stared at my napkin awkwardly- now I was being the one judged.

"Viola?" said Mum sternly, glaring at me, "I do hope you're giving James a fair chance in all of this."

"Yeah, I know, but it's kind of hard sometimes," I said quietly.

"Hard?" asked James, looking at me confusedly.

"Well, I have tried speaking to you but you always seem to want to ignore me," I said, even more quietly than before.

"Or getting drunk," I heard Mum mutter.

James sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry," He mumbled. If it hadn't been for the fact that I was currently in the presence of the rest of my family, I probably would have shouted at James for being such an idiotic coward over the past few weeks but I knew it would only make things worse.

"Well, is it time for pudding?" asked Scorpius expectantly, causing the whole room to stare at him.

Christmas day went by in a blur of food, presents and random unknown family members. I didn't receive anything particularly exciting, unless you find self-cleaning nappies especially riveting. However, I couldn't get the thought of the fast-approaching Boxing Day out of my head where I would be meeting James's family. Even though James visit to us the previous day hadn't exactly gone smoothly, he only had to deal with four of us. I, however, would have to be dealing with twenty five. Daunting to say the least. It was a good thing that I knew half of them seeing as some of them were at Hogwarts with me whilst others I remembered from when I was younger, before they left Hogwarts.

I took the Knight Bus to Ottery St. Catchpole and was dropped off just a few metres away from the entrance to the Burrow. At first glance it didn't look real; rooms had obviously been added higgledy-piggledy to it, but for some strange reason it seemed oddly welcoming. Its asymmetrical appearance and slightly unkempt garden was a nicely different to the cold, dull manor I had been brought up in which was surrounded by ghastly statues of grim reapers.

I made my way to the front door which had a Christmas wreath in it; the home of many tiny fairies fluttering around its intricately twisted vines. I inspected my clothes (a black coat, navy jeans and red jumper with a robin on- Al had warned me to dress pretty casually) before knocking on the door of the house. Suddenly, the voices inside the house seemed to become louder as if people were actually eagerly anticipating my arrival; a stark difference to the reception James had received from my family.  
Suddenly, the door opened and I was greeted by Lily, who was beaming at me. "Viola! Long time, no see!" she chuckled.

"Haha, yeah," I replied nervously, aware that a couple dozen people were now staring at me.

"Come on in, then! You must be freezing!" she said enthusiastically, immediately taking my coat and hooking it onto and already full coat stand. Before I knew it, Al was walking over to me, smiling,

"Hey, Vi! I love your jumper!" he said, making me feel somewhat comforted that I had him here to support me.

"Likewise!" I replied, looking at his knitted dark-green jumper which bore a reindeer with a golden snitch for a nose.

"Thanks, my Grandma made it for me," He said happily, "And that's just reminded me; you need introducing to everyone!" Nervously, I gulped as I took in the large amount of people around me.

"Yep." I mumbled. First he took me to an elderly couple with grey hair that had hints of ginger in it. "This is Grandma and Grandad, but Molly and Arthur to you, Vi." He said.

"Erm, hello, nice to meet you!" I said apprehensively. Al's Grandma, Molly, who had previously been looking at me with a stern look on her face (I guess she wasn't all that pleased with me seeing as it was partly my fault that her teenage grandson was having a baby with the granddaughter of the a death-eater who was coincidentally the man who was often pretty rude to her husband, as Al had told me) was now smiling, which was very reassuring.

"Hello Viola, lovely to meet you too," she said warmly, obviously surprised that I wasn't obnoxiously rude like my father.

"Yes, it truly is after all this time of just hearing about you! Merry Christmas!" said Arthur.

"Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too." I said politely. Next was the family of Molly and Arthur's first child, Bill.

"Yeah, so this is my Uncle Bill, he's my Mum's oldest brother, then there's his wife, Auntie Fleur, and their three children: Victoire, whom you probably don't know, and of course, Louis and Dominique."

"Al, I told you, it's Dom!" said Dominique, who I had always gotten on pretty well with. They all greeted me and so then Al pointed to the next person.

"This is my Uncle Charlie, he only really visits at Christmas as he lives in Romania; he works with dragons," Al continued, causing Charlie to wave in our direction.

"Then here's my Uncle Percy, his wife Auntie Audrey and Molly and Lucy, who I assume you know," said Al. I greeted Molly, Lucy and their parents and then we moved on once again.

"This is my Uncle George, who's actually a twin but unfortunately Fred died in the battle of Hogwarts," Al whispered, obviously not wanting to talk about this sensitive subject in front of his uncle. "Hey, Uncle George, introduce yourself," said Al, shouting across the noisy room. George and a woman whom I assumed to be his wife stood up and approached us. "This is Uncle George and his wife Auntie Angelina, who, of course, have Fred and Roxanne,"

"Hi George, Angelina, er… I'm Viola."

"Hey, nice to meet you! I hear good old Al and yourself have some sort of relationship going on? " chuckled George, making Al go red.

"George!" said Angelina disapprovingly, "Anyway, hi, it's lovely to meet you finally," she finished kindly. We then moved on to Rose and Hugo's family.

"Yeah, so as you know, this is Rose and Hugo," said Al whilst Rose smiled at me and Hugo waved, "And these are their parents, Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione."

"Er, hi Viola, Merry Christmas," said Ron awkwardly; he obviously didn't like the fact that he was meeting Draco Malfoy's daughter and that I was in the house he grew up in. I could see Hermione giving Ron a scalding look before turning to me and giving a reassuring smile.

"Hello Viola, it's wonderful to meet you at last! How are you finding your studies?"  
Taken slightly aback at this immediate question, I stuttered,

"Er, well y'know, I… yeah it's erm, cool." Thankfully Hermione didn't seem to notice my awkwardness and just smiled. Finally, we moved in to Al and James' family- except James wasn't there.

"Yeah so, you know who everyone in my family is right?"

"Yeah, but where's James?" I asked, but my question was soon answered when I heard the sound of footsteps through the ceiling and making their way down the stairs. James swiftly walked over to us, moving bits of hair out of his face.

"Sorry I'm late- I err…" he said, not being able to think of an excuse.

"Overslept?" interjected Ginny, looking at him crossly.

"Well… yeah. Sorry Vi," He said, avoiding my eye.

"Don't worry about it," I replied.

Lunch was soon being served as we all sat around a long table in the already-cramped kitchen. We were having left-overs from the previous day so I helped myself to turkey, brussel sprouts, gravy, roast potatoes, parsnips, bread sauce, mince pies and Christmas pudding. Everyone mostly just talked amongst themselves until the conversation was turned to the baby.

"So Viola, tell us about our first great-grandchild, then!" said Arthur enthusiastically, having already had a couple of glasses of wine.

"Um, well, as you probably know, it's a boy and it's due at some point around March," I said, thinking that would be enough but Arthur kept nodding and the rest of the table were now listening. "And er, a few days ago I decorated a nursery for it, which was good fun," I continued, making James look up at me from the opposite side of the table; I'd forgotten to show him the nursery, but never mind- I could show him another time.

"Oh," said Mrs Weasley, frowning slightly, "So the baby is going to live at your parents' house?" she asked.

"Well, that's what I was thinking." I said, slightly nervous.

"I see," said Mrs Weasley, who had now begun aggressively cutting up her turkey slice. I could see that Harry and Ginny were thinking about what had been said whilst everyone else seemed to be looking between James and I. Al squeezed my arm under the table so as to reassure me, which was comforting of him.

"Well, y'know, what with James wanting to start a Quidditch career when he leaves school it makes sense," I said, trying to justify my actions. However, I could immediately tell that I had said the wrong thing as Ginny was now glaring at James with her eyebrows raised as if to say 'why am I not aware of this and no, that's not happening'.

"But it's okay because I'll bring the baby round here and to Al's often if that's what you want; it's absolutely fine with me," I added apprehensively.

"Viola's right dear, besides, it would be overwhelming for her not only to have a new-born to look after but also to move into our place," said Harry, trying to make things seem reasonable to his wife. Ginny just continued to look at James, who was trying almightily hard not to look back at her.

The dinner was soon finished and the dishes quickly cleared before everyone resumed their lazy positions around the living room. I saw Ginny taking James into another room with her; no doubt to tell him off for not telling her about his plans, but, before I knew it, I was also being taken away for a private conversation. Harry came up to me and asked me if he could have a word before leading me to the corner of the room where we couldn't be heard.

"So, Viola, how's it all going?" he asked quietly, looking around to see that nobody was watching.

"It's alright I guess; Al's been wonderful," I replied honestly. Harry smiled, but soon returned to his expression of concern.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that he's been the only one keeping Ginny and I updated; James… well, he just doesn't seem to be interested," he sighed, "So, on the topic of James, did he really tell you he wants to go into Quidditch as soon as he leaves school?"

"Yeah, that's what he told my parents."

Harry sighed again, "Be honest with me Viola, are you alright with that, because I'm certainly not, even if I did tell Ginny otherwise. Of course I'm fine with you having the baby at yours, but I don't want James to just get up and go," he said concernedly. I thought hard about what he had said before realising that maybe I wasn't alright with it; now I realised that it seemed wrong for James to just leave his baby. I mean, he'd barely see it from when it would be born to when he'd leave school as it'd be at home with me and he'd be at Hogwarts. Then, of course, he'd be straight off to play Quidditch. Whilst I was thinking about all of this, I could suddenly hear faint shouting coming from the room which James and Ginny were in.

"I… I suppose not. I mean, even if Al is there for the baby, he'll need his proper father around too y'know, to bond and stuff," I expressed worriedly.

"Exactly my feelings. The dilemma is that I know James has always wanted to go into Quidditch and to be successful then you've got to get in there as soon as possible. I'd just feel bad if he didn't get to pursue the thing he's been wishing and waiting for his whole life," he said sadly. Suddenly, and for the first time, I really empathised with James and understood why exactly he had been ignoring me and drinking away his sorrows.

"It's a tough one," I agreed, "But honestly, I've got Al, Scorpius, Lily, my parents, you guys and my friends to support me and be there for this baby- I'm sure we'll be fine. James should follow his dream," I said earnestly. Harry ran his hands through his messy hair, thinking.

"Maybe you're right. I guess we'll have to wait and see after the baby is born; maybe James will change his mind and decide to stay, but I don't know."

***James' POV***

Soon after the very awkward lunch had ended, Mum dragged me into the utility room whilst everyone settled themselves in the living room. I knew she was mad and I knew that I was about to get an earful but at least I was prepared for her wrath.

"James! What on earth do you think you're doing!" said Mum angrily.

"Doing what I've always wanted to do."

"But James, how do you think this makes Viola feel? Do you know how tough it is to be a parent, let alone a single teenage mum!" she exclaimed. I shook my head.

"What in Merlin's beard were you thinking when you decided that the best thing for this baby was to go gallivanting off to play Quidditch, therefore leaving it fatherless?!"

"I decided before I even knew that I was going to have a kid! Besides, it has Al!" I replied, becoming more and more angry.

"Al isn't the baby's father though, is he? He could leave Viola at any time and might just do so if things prove tougher than he expected; which they will! Besides, that's completely the wrong attitude! How do you think your brother feels about the fact that the first girl he loved I having his older brother's baby? You know what? I certainly don't blame Al for being moody with you recently as I know that, if I were in his position, I would be severely pissed off too! How would you feel if you had been brought up by some other man because your own father was too lazy and selfish to look after you?!" She shouted. I thought about it and shed a tear. I loved my Dad and I couldn't imagine him leaving me, but then again, I couldn't imagine leaving my Quidditch dream to look after a baby which already had a steady support network.

"And are you even considering the rest of your family in all of this? If you go off to play Quidditch then that poor child will have to grow up in that horrible manor with Draco Malfoy constantly on his watch! It's bad enough that, thanks to the bloody Daily Prophet, everyone knows he was a mistake without the fact that he'll grow up with the prejudice that comes with having a family full of former Death Eaters! Honestly, that poor boy; he may have a good mother, but at this rate he's going to have a pretty awful father!"

I'd had enough. I stormed out of the room and straight upstairs, grabbed a couple of firewhiskies, went into my temporary bedroom, slammed the door, flopped onto my bed and drank away the tears.


	14. Chapter 14: Maturity

"Are you ready, Vi?" Scorpius called up the staircase. It was New Years' Eve and Scorp and I were getting set to attend a party at the Potter's; Harry invited us as an apology for James's behaviour on Boxing Day. It had been an eventful day, especially after James received a second telling off, this time from his father, after he was discovered to be drunkenly rolling around his bedroom floor. It was then when I decided that I'd better leave; I didn't want to be caught in the middle of a big family row, especially not when it mainly concerned me.

"Yeah, I'm coming down now!" I shouted to Scorpius. I didn't particularly feel like going out tonight, especially to James's house, but I felt obliged seeing as I had been personally invited. Mum and Dad weren't overly pleased with the arrangement either, but seeing as I was seventeen and it was almost Scorpius' birthday, they couldn't do anything to prevent us from going.

It was 8 O'clock by the time Scorpius and I arrived at the Potter's house. I was wearing a simple blue maternity dress whilst my brother was sporting a semi-casual grey suit to match his eyes. The front door was already open and music, undoubtedly chosen by James's party-loving cousin Dominique, was already blaring. The whole bottom floor of the house was already filled with people, old and young, all either deep in discussion or dancing slightly awkwardly in the living room. It didn't take long to find Al, who was reading in his room; he wasn't so fond of the whole 'party' thing. I was alone as I walked into his room as Scorp had gone to find Rose.

"Hey Al!" I said happily.

"Hey Vi," he said, looking up from his book and smiling, "how are you?"

"Y'know, same as usual. It's never much fun being at home; I feel like I'm under a corrupt dictatorship sometimes."

"Yeah, it's not been much fun here either."

"Really? How come? Is it because of James?"

"Pretty much. He's not stopped arguing with everyone since we got back from Hogwarts."

"Oh, so he still hasn't managed to convince your parents that he should become a Professional Quidditch Player, then?"

"No way, they're not having any of it, although, that being said, Dad seems a little less strict than Mum on the matter."

"Your Dad just doesn't know what to do I guess. He's conflicted, just as James is; like father like son, eh?" I said sadly. Suddenly, Al stood up and peered out of his bedroom window.

"It's Teddy! Do you want to come and meet him, Vi?"

"Is he your God-brother?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Yep!" he said excitedly, "I haven't seen him since September; he's been working abroad for the last couple of months!" Albus left the room, motioning for me to follow suit. We walked quickly downstairs before meeting Teddy in the bustling kitchen. He was already surrounded by Harry and Ginny who were hugging him and passing him a glass of wine. Teddy's attention then turned to Al and I. His face lit up as he hugged Albus.

"Al! How's it going? I've missed you!"

"Everything's fine, I've missed you too! Oh, this is Viola, by the way," he said excitedly, gesturing for me to step forwards.

"Viola! Nice to meet you at last! I've heard all about you from Al's letters, of course," He said, smiling awkwardly whilst stealing a glance at my stomach with slightly wide eyes, "Where're James and Lils then?" he said, looking around, causing Al's face to drop slightly.

"Oh, right yeah, they're around here somewhere," he said before Teddy went off to find James and Lily. Al then turned to me and said, "I'm just going to go to the loo, I'll meet you back in my room, yeah?" he said before kissing me and then leaving to join the rather large queue for the toilet. I then made my way upstairs, however, just before I reached Al's bedroom door, I felt an oddly painful sensation in my stomach; the baby must have been kicking! It was a wonderful feeling but also a rather odd one too. Nonetheless, it was one which I wanted to share with someone.

I hurried back downstairs to try and find James; I felt that he should be the first one to know about the baby kicking, seeing as it was his. However, I couldn't see James amongst the crowds of people to I went back upstairs in the hope that I would find him in his bedroom. I knocked on the door several times without receiving any response. There was nothing for it; I would just have to walk in there.

It was like going into a pensieve; all the blurred memories from that night six months before came flooding back to me; the firewhisky, the burn marks on James's desk, his cheeky smile as he leant in to kiss me… However, it felt different; I was drunk the last time I was in this room but now I was sober so I could fully appreciate the space. The walls were a plain white colour, but his duvet cover and pillowcase were red and gold to match the Gryffindor colours and there were numerous pictures and photographs plastering the walls. I looked at them closely and noticed many family pictures, especially ones of when James and his siblings were younger; I couldn't help but admire how cute all three children were when they were toddlers. My attention then turned to several scruffy pieces of used parchment lying on top of each other in a precarious pile on James's desk. There were only a few, but they still captured my attention for long enough for me to realise that they were letters. I read the last one in the pile:

_James,_

_I urge you to think of your child in this whole thing. You may have wanted to become a Professional Quidditch Player for your whole life, but that doesn't mean you can't choose other career options, especially options which would allow you flexibility to be able to spend time with your son, which I am sure you will crave, no matter how much you don't think you will. Also, I know you are having many disagreements with Al, but please try to think from his perspective; he loves Viola and he wants to help her, however, this doesn't mean that you should take this as an excuse to dump a child who isn't his on him just so you can do what you want to do. Anyway, I hope you had a nice Christmas and I'll see you on the 31st,_

_Love,_

_Teddy._

I hadn't realised that James had been talking to anyone about his problems, but I guess it made sense; he had to let out his feelings somehow. Next to the piece of parchment which I had just replaced into its original spot was another piece, but with a quill on top of it:

_Teddy,_

_I'm not stupid, I know what having a full-time career will imply; the whole dilemma is the reason I contacted you in the first place, to get your advice on things. The thing is, if I chose not to go for the Quidditch and to spend more time with the kid then I won't exactly be setting a good example for it. I mean, it would mean giving up everything I've been looking forward to for my whole life for something which I never meant to happen in the first place. Also, I'm not taking advantage of Al, he's entirely independent with his decisions, so can you please stop being so harsh? I already get enough of that off Mum and Dad; they want me to make the right decision and yet how can I when they never leave me alone to think? It's just frustrating how everyone is treating me like a naughty child._

_James._

I was in shock. I had no idea that James was so bitter about the situation he was in. I thought that he'd at least be somewhat interested in bringing up his son, but apparently not. Tears were forming in my eyes as I suddenly felt overwhelmingly burden-like. I hated James so much, I knew he had only had a month so far to think over things, I but I had expected him to at least be more concerned about his child's future than his own. He was being selfish and self-centred as always; why I had ever liked him I didn't know.

I could no longer stand to be in his room, let alone his house. I left as subtly as possible, slipping through the entrance hall and out of the front door where I found myself immediately face-to-face with the git himself. He had a bottle of firewhisky in his hand and he was talking animatedly with some other boys his age.

"Ooh, look who it is, it's lover-girl!" said one of the boys, obviously drunk. I tried to ignore them and walk past, but they kept blocking me.

"Look, can you just pack it in?" I said, annoyed. James, meanwhile, was just standing there, laughing along with the others. Suddenly, I felt my temper boil up and I stormed right up to him, grabbed his bottle and dropped it.

"_That_ is for being such a selfish, immature prick, James Potter! If you're really so unconcerned by your own son's future welfare then perhaps I should make the stupid decision for you and raise this kid with Albus as his father!" I shouted angrily. James was staring, open-mouthed at me, clearly wondering what had brought on my sudden spurt of anger. Before waiting for him to answer, I stormed off to the bottom of the lane and hailed for the Knight Bus, still fuming.

As soon as I got home, I penned a quick note for Al to apologise for my early departure, telling him I felt sick and that I couldn't find him to tell him. It was a pathetic excuse, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. I sent the letter off with my owl and then slumped onto my bed. I was the only person in the house as my parents were out and my brother was still at the party. I felt utterly miserable as I lay on my bed, thinking about what I had read earlier that evening. Maybe I had been too harsh on James by saying that I'd possibly deny his chance to be a father to his son, but it was the wake-up call which I felt he needed, even if it never came to fruition.

**James's POV**

I couldn't quite fathom what had just happened; one minute I had been having a great time with my mates, the next, I was being shouted at by Viola and being told by her that she'd probably bring my child up with my brother as his father - it was confusing to say the least.

After Vi left, my friends quickly excused themselves to go and get more drinks so I took the opportunity to go back inside and warm-up. As I walked into the entrance hall, I noticed some faint footsteps on the staircase. They looked like they belonged to a pair of shoes owned by a female. I followed them upstairs and into my bedroom. But the footsteps leading from my room weren't the only strange things I noticed; there was a piece of parchment lying on my floor as though it had been dropped. I picked it up and, with a jolt of the heart, realised that it was the letter I had written for Teddy, until I remembered that I would be seeing him tonight anyway.

Shit. Viola must have seen it, hence why she was so angry at me just a few minutes previously. Oh no. But, then again, what was she doing in my room in the first place? Was she deliberately snooping around or was she perhaps trying to find me for some reason? I desperately wanted to know and to resolve things with her, but I couldn't bear the thought of sending her a letter, so I instead decided that I would speak to her about it at Hogwarts.

Another worrying thing was the fact that I suddenly felt more attached to my baby than ever. I hadn't really given the poor kid much thought in terms of the future, but for some reason, I now felt some sort of motivation to be a father for him, or, at the very least, make sure he was brought up knowing I was his father instead of Al. Maybe he would look exactly like me? It seemed to almost be inevitable that every son in this family looked like an almost carbon-copy of their father. What name was he going to have, and more importantly, whose surname would he be given? I couldn't help but dwell on further questions that were now circling my slightly-intoxicated mind as I lay on my bed, neglecting the party that was currently going on downstairs. It was strange because, even though I was under the influence of alcohol, I was thinking more clearly and maturely than I had done in my whole life.


	15. Chapter 15: Tensions

"Viola, dear, are you all packed up?" called Mum from downstairs as closed my trunk ready for a new term at Hogwarts. Dad had already set off for work after saying a fleeting goodbye. He still wasn't happy with me (has he ever been?) nor Scorpius, after hearing that Albus was his best friend seemed to annoy him even more; at least he still didn't know about Rose.

"Yes, Mum, I'm coming downstairs now," I replied, levitating my trunk down the staircase and into the hallway to join Scorpius's equally full trunk.

"Right, well, I'll see you two soon," said Mum, kissing and hugging us both, "Make sure you write home often, especially you, Viola, and if you have any concerns, I can help."

After kissing us both once more, she gave us some floo powder and we returned to Hogwarts via Professor Slughorn's fireplace. "Ah Viola, Scorpius, good Christmases, I trust?" he said jovially.

"Yes sir, and you?" replied Scorpius.

"Yes, yes, all good. Off you trot now, they are plenty more students to arrive!" he exclaimed, ushering us out of his office. Scorpius and I split up as we reached our separate dormitories to unpack before the start-of-term feast. After I dumped all my belongings in the dorm, I went to find Al, but it appeared that he had not yet arrived, nor had many others judging by the silent common room.

***James's POV***

"Goodness me, have you kids never heard of packing the night before? Blimey, you're just like your uncles…" rambled Mum, who was clearly stressed.

"Your Mum's right, kids, you really are cutting it fine," said Dad, trying to sound supportive for Mum. They'd had a pretty big argument after Viola came over on Boxing Day. Mum told Dad that he was being unsupportive over her trying to "sort me out", leading Dad to tell Mum that she was being too hard on me and that I needed time to think things through as teenage boys aren't readily mature. Needless to say, they've been arguing ever since, but I'm sure they'll make it up; they always do.

"It's fine, Mum, the feast doesn't start for another hour!" said Lily agitatedly.

"Yes, but you've still got to unpack beforehand!"

"It's alright, don't worry about us," added Al. Dad then ushered Lily and Al away, explaining that he and Mum wanted to speak to me before I left. Once Al and Lily had said goodbye and flooed back to Hogwarts, my parents took their chance:

"Now James, before you leave, we'd just like to have a word," said Dad, looking at me seriously.

"Okay."

"Right, well, it's very likely that you will be a-a," stuttered Dad, "be a father when we next see you. Needless to say, it's going to be difficult on everyone, especially you and Viola. But, it is imperative that you allow Viola the time she needs with the baby as children generally need more bonding time with their mothers rather than fathers, especially when they're babies," he continued, looking at Mum, who seemed to be softening up slightly.

"But we are here to help and support you, so as long as you're there for your son then we'll be here for ours," finished Dad, looking melancholy.

"Indeed. We already have the things you'll need for him as we realised that you probably wouldn't get it all yourself, but you have to try harder to see things from Viola's perspective and be open to her needs. We are aware that you're not sure what you're going to be doing after the baby is born, but as long as you're aware of what the consequences of any of your actions will be, then we're fine. We just don't want you to make any rash decisions which you could end up regretting," said Mum, ruffling my hair, something she hadn't done since I was a child. Everything seemed so surreal now, and it appeared that Mum and Dad were thinking the same thing; Mum had tears in her eyes and Dad was looking sadly at me.

"My little boy's growing up!" Mum exclaimed, framing my face with her hands before hugging me and saying goodbye.

"See you, James, have a good term and keep in touch," said Dad, who hugged me after Mum had stepped away.

"Don't' worry, I will. And thanks for everything, I love you," I said, genuinely meaning it.  
"Love you too, Jamesy-boy," said Dad, who smiled slightly at the name he used to call me when I was little.

***Viola's POV***

I didn't see Al in the common room for another ten minutes so I decided to leave for the Great Hall where I knew I'd find Jo and Becca, and, sure enough, they were already seated on the Slytherin table, waiting for the room to fill for the feast. Jo saw me coming in and waved:

"Hey, Vi!"

"Hey guys," I replied happily.

"Blimey, you've gotten bigger!" exclaimed Becca.

"Wow, thanks," I said sarcastically. It was good to be back with my friends, even though I'd only seen them two weeks previously.

"Seriously though, how far along are you now?" asked Becca.

"Er, nearly seven months; I'm due at the end of March."

"Not long, then!" said Jo happily.

"Not really, no," I said whilst my stomach squirmed in anxiety.

"How was Christmas, then? Did the whole 'meeting families' thing work out alright?" asked Becca.

"Well, you know, there were some ups and downs. Mum and Dad tolerated James, but unfortunately he let slip about the fact that Al and Scorp are mates, which didn't go down well."

"Ooh, that must have been awkward."

"Yep. James's family are really nice though, but there's a lot of them. Anyway, it was going fine until James announced that he wants to pursue a professional Quidditch career," I sighed miserably.

"Oh no, he didn't did he?" said Jo, looking annoyed.

"Merlin, what a prat!" added Becca.

"Tell me about it. Well anyway, then comes New Year's Eve… the baby kicked for the first time, so-"

"The baby kicked?" interjected Al, who had just arrived at the table.

"Oh, hey Al! Yeah, I was just explaining about the real reason I left the party," I said, kissing his cheek as he sat down.

"But I thought you said you were sick? Ah well, it doesn't matter now… go on then," muttered Al, looking interested in what I had to say.

"Yeah, so anyway, I went to find James (sorry Al, but you were on the loo, if you don't remember), but I couldn't find him so I went to his bedroom to see if he was there, he wasn't. But I noticed some paper on his desk and read a letter from his God brother, Teddy, and then James's reply. Anyway, I can't remember exactly what it said, but he was very arrogantly trying to justify why he wouldn't have to be there for his son and that Al was here and not pursuing his dream career would set a bad example."

"Gah, what a load of bollocks!" exclaimed Al angrily, "Typical James, though; he's not even had the courage to say anything to me since November!" Becca and Joanna looked scandalised, but I expected it.

"Anyway, you can imagine how reading that made me feel, so I stormed downstairs and outside the front door, intending to go straight home, when I bumped into You-Know-Who-"

"What, Voldemort?" asked Becca, puzzled, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

"Not quite, Becca, but close. Moving on, his 'mates' were making fun of me and James decided to laugh along, so I gave him a piece of my mind and left him looking like a gob-smacked sloth," I finished triumphantly.

"Wow, good one, sis!" said Scorpius, who had suddenly appeared without me noticing.

"Hey Scorpy! Where've you been?" asked Al.

"With Rose," he replied, grinning. I shot him an 'I-hope-you're-being-sensible' look and he just smirked.

"Don't worry Vi, we're sensible… unlike _somebody_."

"Oi, enough with the cheek!" I chuckled.

The feast was delicious; mountains of chicken legs, stacks of ice cream and piles of lasagne donned the table and it couldn't be more appreciated, especially as the baby seemed to love the food as much as me, which is saying something. After the feast and start-of-term notices ended, we were all about to leave the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall approached me.

"That's it, scurry along now, Potter, Malfoy, Cooper, Saunders…" she said to the rest of the group whilst signalling for me to stay behind. "Now, Miss Malfoy, will you follow me to my office, please?"

Oh merlin. What did she want me for? What did I do? I racked my brains to try and pick up on any memories of recent wrongdoings but I couldn't think of anything incriminating. When we reached her office, she gestured for me to sit down as whilst she did so on the opposite side of the desk.

"Now, I suppose you're wondering why you're here, Miss Malfoy?" she said wearily.

"Err… yes, Professor."

"Well, I thought it was opportune to discuss your future here at Hogwarts now that you are in the later stages of pregnancy," she said. Well, at least I knew I was no longer in trouble for a non-existent crime.

"You see, Viola, you are going to have to leave the school next month as part of your granted maternity leave, meaning you won't be able to sit your N.E.W.T. examinations at the same time as your classmates, that is if you want to sit them at all."

"Oh, right, well I guess that makes sense, but I do want to do my N.E.W.T.S., is there any way of postponing sitting them until next year?"

"That can be arranged, yes, but you'd have to make sure you won't forget everything you've learnt this year."

"Yes, that's fine, it doesn't bother me, as long as I can do them in the end," I replied.  
"Good, good, well before you go, how was Christmas? I gather that you spent some time meeting James's family and vice versa."

"Well, it was okay, Professor, but I think James and I have fallen out rather badly."  
"Oh," said Professor McGonagall, looking serious.

"Mmm," I mumbled.

"And have you thought of a name yet?" she asked, looking interested.

"Err, well, to be honest, Professor, it's not really been my top priority over Christmas but I've thought about it a little bit. But I know it's a boy, so I guess that helps."

"A boy! How sweet; boys always seem to be the first children born in the Potter line. And what about the baby's surname? Seeing as the decision really is yours."

"Erm, well I've always just assumed it will have Malfoy, seeing as I'm not married."

"A wise decision, Miss Malfoy. Well, that should be all, but if you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to come to me."

"Thanks, Professor," I said before leaving her office. It was nice to know that she was interested in making sure I was making the right decisions, but then I guess that was her job, being both Headmistress and Head of James's house. In fact, that very conversation got me thinking about the baby's name. I had always liked certain boys' names but I would have to get some advice from my friends and Al before making a definite decision. Maybe, if I was feeling kind enough (i.e. I decided to ignore my Malfoy streak) then I'd include him in the decision, but right now I didn't feel like including him in anything. I still couldn't fathom how he and Al could be brothers; they were just so different from one another, yet they looked so similar. It was weird.

"Hey Vi, what did McGonagall want?" asked Al as I walked into the Common Room.

"Just to talk about N.E.W.T.S. and stuff."

"Oh right, so are you going to do them?"

"Yeah, but I'm postponing them until next year."

"Brilliant! Then we'll be doing them at the same time!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh yeah!" I said, having only just realised this.

"So is that all she wanted then?"

"No, she also asked me how Christmas went. I told her that James and I have 'fallen out', for want of a better word. Anyway, then she asked me if I've thought of any names-"

"-And have you?" asked Al interestedly.

"Not particularly, to be honest… She also asked me about the baby's surname; I said I thought Malfoy would be most appropriate seeing as I'm not married."

"Oh, well yeah I guess so," said Al, looking slightly crestfallen.

"Why? Do you want Potter? I just thought that if James strays then the poor child will be left with a constant reminder of just that."

"Yeah I know, it's just that I'm Potter too."

"And I realise that, Al, but you're not this baby's biological father and therefore it doesn't make a difference. Maybe if we do get married in the future then we'll change his surname to Potter."

"Well I guess it's your decision, but I just don't think it's fair to bring this child up with a surname which will make people automatically think 'descendant of Death Eaters'."

"Yeah, yeah, but I survived, didn't I? Besides, by the time he's a teenager then people will hopefully have moved on from believing previous prejudices, I mean, I'm hardly a Death Eater, am I?"

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm going to bed," Al replied, frustrated. Merlin, why are the Potter boys so hard to reason with?


	16. Chapter 16: Arguments

The next day was a difficult one, what with Albus half-heartedly trying to ignore me. The problem was that, even though he was angry at me and wanted me to know it, he also wanted to speak to me and make me change my mind. That's another stark difference I've noticed between Al and James; when Al decides to do something, he never sticks to it, whereas once James has made his mind up about something, he finds it hard to back out of. However, today, it wasn't the difference between the brothers which I was noticing, but more so the similarities in that they were both acting very odd and out-of-character. For Al, I could only assume this was a result of our argument the previous night, but with James, I had no idea.

The strange behaviour all started in Potions where James was being uncharacteristically helpful and friendly towards me:

"Your potion's looking good, Vi!" he said rather enthusiastically.

"Erm… thanks?" I asked, staring down into the gloopy contents of my cauldron.

"You're welcome!"

"James, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why, do I look ill?"

"No, but, well don't you think you're acting a little… odd?" I asked awkwardly.

"Not at all! Besides, wouldn't you rather I act happy instead of the way I have been over the last few months?"

"Well, naturally, of course, but it's a bit weird. Has something happened?"

"No, nothing." He said, shuffling, his eyes diverting ahead guiltily. At first I didn't realise what he was looking at, but it didn't take long to find out. Claire Summers was now staring at James whilst batting her eyelashes. Shit. Not her again. This worst part was that James was looking back at her, smiling, before turning back to me and 'casually' mentioning:

"Oh yeah, just so you know… Claire and I are back together."

No. This is not happening. How the hell could he be so inconsiderate and naïve; did he actually believe that Claire liked him? It was obvious that she just wanted him for his status, the stupid cow. Anger was now boiling up inside of me but I chose to refrain from exploding and just replied with a "That's nice."

"Wait, so you're alright with it, then?" asked James, looking surprised.

"Whatever. I mean, it's not like your actions concern me," I said bitterly, angry tears subtly stinging my eyes as I determinedly stared forwards to avoid eye-contact as the bell rang to signal the ned of the lesson.

"Ah, come on Vi, don't be like that!" exclaimed James as I hurried ahead out of the classroom.

"Vi! VI!" he shouted, running after me, leaving an annoyed-looking Claire huffing off in the opposite direction.

"Vi! Just stop for a second," he said breathlessly, following me into an empty classroom.

"What the fuck do you want, James?"

"I don't want anything, I just don't know why you're reac-"

"MERLIN, JAMES! ARE YOU ACTUALLY AS THICK AS YOU'RE LETTING ON? DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I'D BE FINE WITH YOU GOING OUT WITH A STUPID BITCH WHO ONLY WANTS YOU FOR YOUR MONEY AND FAME, ESPECIALLY WHEN I'M HAVING YOUR BABY IN TWO MONTHS! DID YOU REALLY EXPECT ME TO BE OKAY WITH THIS?!"

"Vi, please-"

"NO, NOT PLEASE! YOU'RE RIDICULOUS; YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYBODY OTHER THAN YOURSELF! YOU'RE A MEAN, SELFISH, IDIOTIC LITTLE BOY!"

"Viola! Don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical, I mean you're going out with my brother, for goodness' sake!"

"BUT THAT'S DIFFERENT, JAMES! ALBUS LOVES ME AND HAS PROMISED TO SUPPORT ME, WHICH HE WOULDN'T HAVE TO DO IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU BEING SUCH A SELF-ABSORBED BASTARD!"

"For fuck's sake Viola, Claire's just a girlfriend, she's not going to change anything! You're just over-reacting!"

"WHAT? ALRIGHT THEN, WHY DON'T YOU TRY BEING 17 AND CARRYING THE CHILD OF SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU?! WHY DON'T YOU TRY GETTING A JOB AND RAISING A BABY WITHOUT THE OTHER PARENT? BECAUSE, JAMES, IN REALITY, THAT IS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! I HATE YOU!" I screamed at his stunned face.

"Viola, I never said anything about leaving you alone with raising the kid."

"SO? THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN IMPLYING FOR ALL THIS TIME! I MEAN, WHAT SORT OF FATHER CHOOSES QUIDDITCH OVER THEIR FIRST-BORN CHILD?"

"BUT THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE, VI! I'M NOT READY TO BE A 'FATHER'! I'M NOT READY FOR ALL THE ARGUMENTS, CUSTODY ARRANGEMENTS, MONEY ISSUES AND EVERY OTHER DAMN THING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!" shouted James, his voice wavering.

"WELL THEN YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO, DON'T YOU? YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO HANG AROUND! BESIDES, ANY KID WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITH NO FATHER RATHER THAN YOU!"

"FINE!" shouted James, storming out of the room.

"FINE!" I replied, crying. Merlin, my hormones were really out of control.

…

I returned to my dorm almost immediately after the argument and flopped on to my bed, bitter, crying and confused. I'd never meant to get so angry at James, but I guess months upon months of building anger and frustration towards him had to be released at some point. I tried to get some homework done before dinner but my mind was in overdrive and my concentration levels were lax. I just couldn't stop thinking about James and the way he'd stormed out of the room; it was like his voice was on constant replay in my mind, causing me to relive James final words and expressions. Was this really it? Was he actually okay with leaving his kid because of our argument? Then again, it was probably for the best; if James wasn't going to fight for his child now, he probably never would.

...

Dinner that night was a strange affair; Joanna and Becca left early to finish off some Defence Against the Dark Arts homework, leaving me sat on my own due to the fact that Al was sitting with Scorpius at the far end of the table. Not only did this leave me alone, but it also left a significant gap in-front of me, giving me a perfect view of the other house tables. However, only one in particular interested me- the Gryffindor table. I could see the back of James's and Claire's heads and they were very close together; too close if you ask me. Every so often, James's head would turn as if to look at me, but he kept trying to disguise it as a casual glance around the room. He didn't look sad, but he didn't look particularly happy either. Claire, on the other hand, looked absolutely ecstatic as she flirted with her boyfriend and rested her head on his shoulder. I wasn't overly jealous, just annoyed that James seemed to want to choose her over his baby; he seemed to think that I was the one in the wrong for 'thrusting' this upon him, but in my opinion, he was the wrong one.

I could also see Rose sitting opposite James, multi-tasking between reading a heavy-looking book and eating her roast pork. Every now and again, she could be seen looking up and James and Claire with a look of disapproval on her face. Well, at least some one in this room was on my side. After about ten minutes of miserably playing with the pork on my plate, I decided I'd had enough and that I really ought to go to bed.  
As was walking across the common room and towards the dormitories, I felt someone push past me, then turn around.

"Oh, it's you Vi! Sorry, I didn't mean… kind of angry," said a breathless-looking Al.

"It's alright," I muttered, turning to walk away.

"No, no it's not alright, have you heard about James?"

"What about him?" I enquired nonchalantly.

"About him and Claire!"

"Oh right, yeah."

"Merlin, I'm so sorry for getting annoyed at you, Vi; I was being stupid about the whole surname thing… but anyway, I'm guessing James dumped the news on you himself, judging by his guilty expression when I asked him where you'd gone."

"Well, sort of, but it was pretty obvious from Claire's smugness in Potions earlier that something was going on."

"Hm. Anyway, are you alright? I mean, what James has done is just so… immature and selfish. Merlin, he can be an idiot when he chooses to be."

"Tell me about it. I don't really know what to think at the moment, to be honest. It's not that I'm jealous of Claire or anything," I said as Al pulled a concerned-then-relaxed face, "I'm more angry about James's behaviour in general, and his lack to put things into perspective. I actually had a massive go at him earlier about it all, but to be honest, it just made things worse," I said, my voice cracking as my eyes filled with tears.

"Viola, are you alright? What did he say?" asked Al frantically, leading me into a small, deserted corner of the common room.

"I'm fine," I said, a tear streaming down my cheek.

"Well you're clearly not, are you? Just have a tissue and tell me what he said, Vi," said Al kindly, handing me a tissue.

"Well I shouted at him and we had a-a massive ar-argument and I t-told him that the b-baby would b-be better off w-without him and then h-he he shouted 'fine' and w-walked off." I said, now sobbing, causing a group of first-years to look over at me, but I couldn't possibly care less.

"Are you serious? He didn't even put up a fight?" asked Al, looking concerned.

"No."

"Well… I'm not very good at this whole comforting thing, but you know I'm here for you if you ever need me right? Besides, I'm your boyfriend," he said gently to me, making me smile, "Well anyway, you look like you really need a sleep."

"Yeah," I chuckled, "I think I'm going to go to bed now."

"Alright, but are you sure you're okay?"

"Honestly Al, life's only going to get tougher, this is just the beginning, but thanks anyway," I said, smiling slightly and giving him a kiss before retiring to my dormitory.

A/N: I would just like to apologise for the long delay between this chapter and its predecessor; I've just been so incredibly busy with school and everytime I've tried to write, I've just gotten a massive writer's block, argh! Also, I'm sorry about the short chapter, but I prmoise the next one will be longer. Thanks again and please review if you have anything you want to say/ask me :)


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